TORONTO — You would have never guessed this was Mike (Pinball) Clemons's eighth Grey Cup celebration.
From his seat on stage left, Toronto's general manager wore a giant smile, pumped his fists, stomped his feet and seemed to nearly fall off his chair with puppy-like excitement throughout the Argonauts’ hour-long championship rally at Maple Leaf Square outside Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
"(Grey Cups) are so hard to get," Clemons said. "There’s no promise. Some guys go through and never get that opportunity to hold the Cup. The unpredictability of it is what makes it special."
Unpredictability is perhaps the most apt descriptor of the Argonauts' recent championship — a 41-24 victory over the favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Vancouver's B.C. Place on Sunday.
Hours before the rally began, a crowd of diehard fans began to form around the stage. The group sang intermittent "Let’s go Argos" chants together on a cool and mostly grey day in the city.
Many of them donned Argos jerseys, with names like Doug Flutie, Henoc Muamba and McLeod Bethel-Thompson represented among them.
But there were no Nick Arbuckle threads in sight — fitting for a whirlwind season that saw the backup quarterback take over as starter in the Grey Cup, leading to the team to its CFL record-extending 19th title and earning MVP honours in the process.
Toronto spent its first nine games of the season waiting out a suspension to star QB Chad Kelly. It eked out second place in the East by a half-game over the Ottawa Redblacks before beating them in the East semi.
Then, late in the division final against the top-seeded Montreal Alouettes, Kelly went down with injury. The Argos held on to win, but they were viewed as underdogs in the Grey Cup against a Blue Bombers squad making its fifth straight trip to the title game.
That’s when Arbuckle — a player who was investigating coaching opportunities in the off-season — stepped in and threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns against the stout Bombers.
“I’ve tried to make a lot of plans based on things I’ve done in the past and those plans never really seem to work out,” said Arbuckle. “And the plan that did work out, which was God’s plan, ended up being a lot sweeter and a lot greater. I never thought this would have happened, so I’ll just let him to take the reins.”
Arbuckle said his week leading up to the Grey Cup looked like most others, except for a few more first-team reps.
“I always prepare the same exact way for a game, whether you’re the starter or the backup. I always prepare to play every down except for the first one, so this is the only difference — I get to play the first one,” he said.
The CFL journeyman added that he now hopes to keep playing into next season. As a free agent, though, it may not be with Toronto.
Kelly, meanwhile, will still be under contract with the Argos.
The 30-year-old, who two years ago stepped in from the backup role to lead the Argos to a championship, joined his team on stage at the rally on crutches and offered an exuberant speech featuring many proclamations of “best in the world” and more than a few swear words.
“That was awesome to see him here and take part and be such a part of the spirit and direction of our team,” Clemons said.
When Kelly was still healthy nearly two months ago, the Argonauts visited the Lions at B.C. Place — the site of the Grey Cup. Toronto picked up an important victory in that game, but it was another moment during that trip that may live on forever.
Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie taped a toonie in the visitor’s locker room, with the promise of returning to pick it up during the Grey Cup.
“I felt like it was a good message to our players to let them understand we did take that step in B.C. in a tough game. I don’t know when’s the last time we won in B.C. We had to get that done — now we can get it done in a few weeks,” Dinwiddie said.
Dinwiddie said he now has the toonie safely in his house — though there was a scary moment on the flight home from Vancouver in which it slipped out of his pocket and into the depths of his seat.
But the coach, who’s signed with the Argos through 2026, recovered the coin and is planning to immortalize it in a trophy case alongside his Grey Cup ring.
In addition to Clemons, Arbuckle, Kelly and Dinwiddie, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow, MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, president Keith Pelley and four other players spoke at the rally.
Chow declared Nov. 19 as Double-Blue Day in Toronto.
Pelley, a former Argos president who recently returned to MLSE, said when he spoke to the team ahead of the East final he implored six more hours of good football — and his players delivered.
Veteran receiver DaVaris Daniels, who’s spent the past four seasons with the Argos, was the first player to take the microphone.
Daniels held a bottle of champagne that he sprayed into the crowd as he walked to the lectern. He spoke of the nobody-believes-in-us mentality his team carried throughout Grey Cup week.
“Never underestimate an underdog,” Daniels roared. “You just might get bit.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.
Myles Dichter, The Canadian Press