If Mike Reilly wins the CFL Most Outstanding Player Award Thursday night in Ottawa, he probably won’t thank Matt Sizemore in his speech, but maybe he should.
Sizemore inadvertently played a role in Reilly becoming a quarterback.
At the age of six, when Reilly started playing football, he was a quarterback, but because he wanted to run with the ball more, he moved to running back when he was “10 or 11” and Sizemore became the quarterback.
“I loved playing quarterback but I wanted to run to run the ball, so I told my dad I wanted to be a running back. I trained all off season to be a running back,” said Reilly.
“The first game of the season I think I carried the ball twice, then we had a pass play and the quarterback got hit and broke his collar bone and was done for the year and they moved me right back to quarterback.”
That quarterback was Sizemore. Reilly never kept in touch with him and doesn’t know where he is now, except that he is not in football.
“He was more of a baseball guy.”
Things unfolded well for Reilly at quarterback. He went on to a college career at Washington State and then Central Washington before getting a look in the NFL with Green Bay, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
His CFL journey began in 2010 when he signed with the B.C. Lions. He won a Grey Cup as a back in 2011 and then everything changed for him in 2013 with a trade to the Eskimos, where he quickly became a fan favourite and the face of the franchise.
A Grey Cup win in 2015 and MVP honours in that game are two of the many highlights for Reilly as an Eskimo.
“The moments leading up to the end of that game are something I will never forget,” the 32-year-old said.
“I felt like it was all in slow motion. I remember Matt O’Donnell picking me up and then I remember seeing my wife Emily and my parents.”
After Steven Jyles, Matt Nichols, and Kerry Joseph, Reilly was the fourth starter at QB for the Eskimos as they looked to replace Ricky Ray, who was traded to Toronto after the 2011 season.
Thursday night will see Ray represent the east against Reilly for the MOP award.
Honoured by the nomination, Reilly does have a regret as he spends a few days in Ottawa at Grey Cup 105.
“I was excited at the possibility of having my teammates with me. I’ve always said that this is the ultimate team game so individual awards are never about the individual they are about the group.
“I’m excited to represent our team, but it will be difficult to be here without the guys who put me in that situation.”
Reilly does it all for the CFL and the Eskimos on and off the field. He is that rare combination: a great player who wins you games, sells you tickets and understands the importance of spending time with the media and the fans, spreading the word about the Canadian Football League.
If his name is called Thursday night, Reilly would be the first Eskimos player since Tracy Ham in 1989 to win the CFL’s top individual honour.
Where ever he is, I hope Sizemore’s collar bone has healed and he gets a great story to tell about “the guy who replaced me at quarterback.”
Mike Reilly by the numbers in 2017 regular season:
Wins: 12
Yards passing: 5,830
TD passes: 30
Rushing TDs: 12
Rushing yards: 390
300 yard games: 12
400 yard games: 2
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