Give me eight players, one from each team that isn’t the team you cheer for. Who do you like? It can be for ability, or achievement, or personality, or because he used to play for you, or any number of irrational reasons.
I’ll start.
Hamilton: Bo Levi Mitchell. I actually didn’t like him in Calgary. I thought he was arrogant. But he won me over by how he handled a rocky transition to Hamilton, and by his surprising smoothness doing spot broadcasting duty on TSN. Happy to see him getting his flowers this year.
Ottawa: Geno Lewis. He got his start in Montreal and had his best seasons with us, and I’ll always look on him with fondness.
Toronto: Wynton McManis because he’s a true game-changer when healthy.
BC: Garry Peters because I always like to see a non-QB/OL/DL play into his ‘30s at a high level.
Edmonton: Jared Brinkman because he is one tough defensive lineman.
Calgary: Vernon Adams Jr. He got a raw deal in both Montreal and BC, and I’m happy to see him excelling in Calgary.
Winnipeg: Brady Oliveira because when healthy, he’s been the best player at his position for years now.
Saskatchewan: Jermarcus Hardrick for the same reason I like Bo and Peters. Old guy still playing at the top of his game. Honourable mention goes to Dohnte Meyers for his big goofy grin and his enthusiasm.
BC - McInnis
Calgary - Moncrief
Edmonton - Fajardo but only because he was a Rider otherwise nobody
Hamilton - Levi-Mitchell
Montreal - Philpot
Ottawa - Crum
Toronto - Arbuckle
Winnipeg - Oliveira
Hamilton: Kenny Lawler - he didn’t want to leave us and Zach sure needed him this year.
Montreal: Shawn Lemon - he’s one of those rare players who’s both an asset and a liability to the CFL. I’m sure that by next spring he’ll have made a roster, spoken out against upcoming rule changes, and done something slightly illegal.
Ottawa: Dru Brown - gets the crap kicked out of him every game on a team that doesn’t take its O-Line seriously yet still delivers a gutsy performance for his ungrateful employers.
Toronto: Lirum Hajrullahu - it was hard to watch Lirum fold like a cheap card table everytime we needed him to kick a meaningful FG here in Winnipeg but now that he’s beaten his inner demons all is forgiven. We even put the noose away.
BC: Jeremiah Masoli - came agonizingly close to completing a heroic comeback from a horrific on-field assault that nearly ended his career (anyone miss ‘Marino”? Not me).
Edmonton: Cody Fajardo - He hates our guts but he’s hard not to like.
Awesome thread topic @disciplineandpunish! Exactly what we needed while we wait for Sunday
Hamilton - Tyler Ternowski - Love his hustle on coverage teams. Always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
Montreal - James Letcher Jr. - One of the most electric returners in the CFL right now.
Ottawa - Marco Dubois - The FB/TE body type doesn’t get enough love in the CFL and this guy is one of the best. One of the top Personal Protectors on punt plays.
BC - Jackson Findlay - Really fun rookie DB
Calgary - Damien Alford - How could you not love The Moose!
Edmonton - Etava Magua-Clements - Best non-specialist Global player in my opinion. Leader of the special teams unit.
Saskatchewan - Tommy Nield - One of my favourite guys in Toronto. This challenge made me realize I’m not a huge fan of any Roughrider players
Winnipeg - Zach Collaros - Struggling lately, but still one of the best to ever do it in my opinion.
I’d go with Leone or Laing - long time REDBLACKS who have stuck it out.
I see where a lot of votes go to former players of your own teams. I would have made it so you have to pick a player who didn’t play for your home team at one time.
