VANCOUVER — This is not an underdog story. Not if you ask the Toronto Argonauts.
The Boatmen went into BC Place to face a heavily favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 111th Grey Cup on Sunday and came away with a convincing 41-24 win.
You can’t fault anyone for considering the Argos underdogs, given they were starting backup quarterback Nick Arbuckle due to an injury to starter Chad Kelly, while also facing a Winnipeg team going into its fifth straight Grey Cup.
Injuries aside, that’s not the point of view for the Double Blue.
CFL.ca brings you three things you might have missed from the Argos post-game press conference after winning the 111th Grey Cup.
111th GREY CUP
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YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE VIBE
The Toronto Argonauts landed in Vancouver on Monday night in what seemed a relaxed mood, even despite being close to 48 hours removed from a fierce battle against the Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern Final.
Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie could sense that this team was in the right head space going into the most important game of the season, giving them enough confidence to overcome any challenge, including losing their starting quarterback.
“No, we didn’t,” answered the head coach when asked if his team saw itself as underdogs. “You should have seen the vibe all week. A lot of focus.”
UNBELIEVABLE
Quarterback Nick Arbuckle’s journey to 111th Grey Cup MVP reads like a fairy tale. The pivot was considering retiring in order to kickstart his coaching career before the Argonauts came calling in May for him to join the quarterback room in Toronto.
Fast forward six months, the veteran is now forever etched in CFL lore.
“I wouldn’t believe it,” Arbuckle told reporters about his journey. “And I don’t think anybody else would either.”
His faith in the team, though? That’s a whole other story.
“I never quite doubted that we would get here as a team and then we’d be celebrating this moment as a team. Didn’t know I’d be be front and center with this opportunity to help the team win in this way.”
FAMILY SUCCESS
If Arbuckle never doubted his team, his team also never doubted him.
“This guy’s a professional football player,” said Most Valuable Canadian Dejon Brissett. “He’s detail oriented, and even on the sideline when he wasn’t playing, he was going through the plays and telling us, ‘you need to run it this way. you need to run it that way’, and explaining to us why we were doing what we were doing.
“We already knew that we were going to get the job done.”
Brissett’s success came in the same season in which his brother, Oshae Brissett, also celebrated a championship. Dejon’s younger brother was a part of the Boston Celtics team that won the NBA championship back in June, rounding off a pretty remarkable year for the Brissett family.
“It means everything, it’s great,” said the Argos wide receiver about being named the Most Valuable Canadian in the 111th Grey Cup. “This is a great Canadian game. I’m proud to be Canadian, and it’s good for my family too, because my brother was the 10th Canadian to win an NBA championship with the Celtics. So to come and do this in the same year is great, it means the world. And you know, I love it.”