He feels Blue boosters’ pain

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This article was published 30/11/2011 (5385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — CFL great Milt Stegall is revered in Winnipeg.

A street — Milt Stegall Drive — is named in his honour.

The plans for a new football stadium rising on the University of Manitoba campus — Project 85 — refer to the number Stegall wore for 14 seasons as a member of the Blue Bombers.

Twice, during his storied career, Stegall felt the bitterness of defeat in a Grey Cup game. He retired as the CFL’s all-time leading receiver following the 2008 season, but he never got a championship ring.

Still, he felt the Bombers’ 34-23 loss in Sunday’s Grey Cup game to the B.C. Lions more keenly for Winnipeg’s fans than for its players.

“I feel real bad for the community, because they’ve waited 21 years for another Grey Cup and it hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “The majority of players, with the exception of guys like Doug Brown (an 11-year veteran defensive tackle), haven’t been there that long, so they don’t know exactly what’s gone down.

“Life is not always fair. You see guys who have played one down of football bragging about their rings. And other guys, who have played for years, don’t have them. But I’ve never felt bitter that I didn’t get one. Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Dan Marino… there is a long list of great players who never won a championship.

“I did all I could to be a champion. But football is not like boxing or track and field where you control your own destiny.”

Despite his Winnipeg sympathies, however, Stegall was aghast to learn that Bombers halfback Jonathan Hefney, beaten by B.C. rookie Kierrie Johnson on a 66-yard touchdown play, had dissed the Lions in a tweet following the Grey Cup game.

“Y’all still an average team with some of the softest players in the league,” Hefney tweeted of the Lions.

“If the Lions are an average team that must mean the Blue Bombers are a below-average team,” Stegall said. “The way I saw it, B.C., physically and mentally, pretty much dominated all three phases of the game. They really laid it on them.

“I can see where a guy can be frustrated and bitter. I’ve felt that way myself. But you keep the comments to yourself, or at least calm down first before making them. Then the wrong words don’t come out as they did for Jonathan.”

Stegall, part of TSN’s panel of commentators for CFL broadcasts, came down to field level following the game at BC Place to congratulate the champion Lions, in particular defensive backs Dante Marsh and Korey Banks. All three are residents of Atlanta and train together in the off-season.

Stegall calls Marsh, a cornerback, and Banks, a halfback, the “best short-side tandem in the CFL.”

“Korey’s contribution has always been big,” Stegall said. “But when they put him together again with Dante, back at his natural position, he was really outstanding. He takes on a vocal leadership role. Sometimes he’s too vocal. But he not only has the physical tools, he’s super smart. Korey knows where the play is going as soon as the ball is snapped. He knows everybody’s assignments… When he’s done, I’d be surprised if he’s not coaching somewhere.”

Stegall said he’ll be formulating plans to be at the Lions’ first game next year. Geroy Simon, who spent his first two seasons with Stegall in Winnipeg, needs just 67 yards to pass his mentor and become the league’s all-time leader in pass-reception yards. TSN, the Lions and Stegall intend to make sure he’s there when it happens.

“Without a doubt, I’ll be there,” he said. “Geroy is one of my students. Seeing your records being broken is just part of life. Who knows, Geroy might break my touchdown record, too. He’s put in a lot of hard work over the years, and he deserves everything that’s coming to him. I’ll be the happiest person in the world when it happens.”

— Postmedia News