So, It’s now week 1 of the new CFL season and the Ticats—back in Tim Hortons Field after three weeks at McMaster—are laser-focused on their opening game in Calgary Friday night.
It will be the first time the Ticats have played in Calgary since October 14, 2022, because somehow the Stampeders were not on Hamilton’s road schedule last year. There’s a special ring to this because that 2022 game was the first time that the Ticats had won in Calgary in 18 years. Yes, that is correct. 18 years. That wasn’t a slump, it was a coma.
Not many people, especially Albertans, will be thinking about that rare 35-32 Hamilton victory because that was then and this is definitely now and the makeup of both teams has been altered.
And among the major alterations is that Bo Levi Mitchell will be starting for the Tiger-Cats. Back in 2022, he was in his final year of a brilliant tenure in Calgary when he rewrote several league and franchise records. But he didn’t play that game, as Jake Maier had replaced him. They’ll start against each other on Friday night.
Mitchell has demonstrated that the swelling in his right leg which concerned a lot of Ticat Nation a month ago is like that Ticat win in Calgary–a thing of the past–and is concentrating on leading the Ticats to an all-too-rare week 1 win.
But he’s also a human being with 360 vision and is aware of the realities: he’s coming back to a city which embraced him and his wife Madison, and later their children Ele and Lakelyn, for a decade; a city where he continued that long, almost uninterrupted line of quarterbacks who evolved into earning a table with a view in the CFL’s Club of Elites.
Bo took some of his day off over the weekend to tell us his feelings about returning to Calgary this week.
“My time in Calgary was special,” Mitchell said yesterday. “I look forward to returning to play in front of the fans. I had the opportunity to learn from some of the most decorated coaches in this game and was surrounded by a plethora of amazing teammates that I will call friends for the rest of my life.
“Obviously, once we step in between the white lines, there are no friends. It’s all about starting the season 1-0.”
It’s clearly going to be emotional for Mitchell. Not only have people like Dave Dickenson and Doug Flutie, both contenders themselves, said that Mitchell is the best quarterback in Stampeder history; he and Madison were role models in the community and he has received multiple awards for his service to the city.
When he comes onto the field, there will definitely be a response. Surely a positive one.
Dickenson, now the Calgary coach and general manager shared his thoughts on Mitchell’s return.
“I think Calgary wants to see Bo,” he said. “I think they’re going to welcome him back. He’s a big part of what we’ve been in our success and I do believe he’ll always be remembered as a Stampeder.
“But he will be wearing different colours and obviously our fans will still be rooting for the Stampeders. They’ll be wishing for a Stampeder win but also a lot of the crowd will want Bo to play well. So I’m sure there will be mixed reactions when it comes to the home crowd.”
Mitchell arrived in Calgary in 2012 from Eastern Washington where he led the school to its first ever Division 1-AA national title, and before that two years under former Ticat head coach June Junes at SMU. He was an undefeated Texas state champion at the famous Katy High School and took that winning pedigree into the huddle of the Stampeders. After playing sparingly in 2012, and a bit more in 2013, when he was behind Kevin Glenn and Drew Tate, he became the starter for 2014 and promptly set a league record for a first-year starter, going 12-1. He won the Grey Cup in 2014 over his current team and was the game’s Most Outstanding Player, an award he won again in the 2018 Cup win over Ottawa. He was the league’s Most Outstanding Player, in 2016 and ’18, owns the CFL record for most playoff wins by a starting quarterback (14), is the only Stampeder quarterback to start and win multiple Grey Cups, was the fastest quarterback ever to 60 wins, requiring only 72 games to get there, and is a sure-fire Hall of Famer.
We asked Dickenson about the traits that have made Mitchell–whose nickname ‘Gunslinger’ was given to him by an uncle—able to be so dominant when he’s on a roll.
“I don’t think there’s been a better guy who sees blitzes and understands coverage,” Dickenson said. “ He’s got a quick release and the moment’s never too big for Bo. He enjoys the big moment and I believe it’s part of why he’s been so successful.”
Mitchell wants to lead the Ticats to their first winning record in three seasons, and of course, he wants to stay healthy. Two separate injuries put him on the six-game injured list last year and he played only six regular season games and threw more interceptions than touchdowns for just the second time in his career.
In Calgary, he played 165 games and completed just under 2500 passes for over 32,000 yards and 194 touchdowns.
“There were a lot of touchdowns in McMahon Stadium to Calgary greats like Nik Lewis, Marquay McDaniel, and Eric Rogers to name a few,” he says. “And a lot of wins in front of the great fans there a lot of whom I know by name now. Obviously, there were the huge Grey Cup wins in ‘14 and ‘18.
“But my best memories are big wins during Labour Day, and the fans rushing the field and having to find my way through the crowd to see my wife Madison and our little girls running to me to celebrate.”
Bo Levi Mitchell and the Tiger-Cats take on the Stampeders in Calgary, this Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
