The
Winnipeg Blue Bombers were peaking at just the right time. After
playing .500 football through their first 10 games they reeled
off seven wins in their last eight games, including five straight
wins, before blasting the B.C. Lions in their first game of
the playoffs.
Leading
the way throughout the season was an offence that had jaws dropping around the
CFL, leading the league in eight categories : points scored, touchdowns, field
goals, average points per game, first downs, passing yards, pass completions,
and pass completion percentage.
On
a team loaded with weapons, the two deadliest were the duo of quarterback Khari
Jones and receiver Milt Stegall, who sat out the Lions' game with an injury.
Jones,
the CFL's MVP in 2001, led the league in passing, throwing for 5,334 yards and
46 touchdown passes, just two short of Doug Flutie's CFL record. The 31-year
old also threw a whopping 29 interceptions, although turnovers were rare during
the late-season surge.
Stegall,
the West's nominee for outstanding player in 2002, made 105 catches for 1,862
yards, this despite the fact that he often faced double coverage. His 23 touchdowns
set CFL records for most TDs in a season and most TD receptions.
Head
coach Dave Ritchie, who once coached another dynamic duo -- quarterback Danny
McManus and slotback Darren Flutie in B.C. -- is amazed at the numbers Jones
and Stegall managed to put up this year.
"They're
really something,'' Ritchie told Canadian Press. "Milt draws double, triple
coverage…and Khari still manages to find him.
"I
had Danny and Darren and they were pretty good, but not the tune of 46 touchdown
passes and 23 touchdown catches."
FROM
BACK-UP TO STAR
While Jones won the CFL's MVP award in just his first full year as a starter,
he was anything but an overnight sensation.
The NFL didn't come calling after the 5'11", 195-pounder graduated from
the University of California-Davis, so he first tried his hand with NFL Europe
then with the Arena Football League.
After failing to land a starting slot in either league, Jones came north in
1997, signing with the B.C. Lions. He was injured that first year and didn't
play, then spent the next two years backing up Damon Allen. All told, he threw
a grand total of 43 passes while with the Lions.
At times Jones considered retirement, but eventually got his break when he was
traded to the Bombers in 2000. Early in the season starter Kerwin Bell got hurt
and Jones made the most of his chance.
His
play was so impressive that the Bombers soon released Bell and the team belonged
to Jones.
CUP COMES BEFORE STATS
With
his stunning stats, many are proclaiming Stegall the odds-on favourite to win
the outstanding player award.
But,
Stegall isn't one to revel in his personal records, repeatedly telling reporters
he's more interested in bringing the Grey Cup to Winnipeg.
"I'd
trade it all in for just one Grey Cup," he said after being nominated for
MVP.
"If
you said I could have one Grey Cup ring, I'd trade it in a second. I haven't
been on a championship team my whole life. That's the only reason I'm playing.
This personal stuff is what you look at down the road, after the season or when
you retire."
Before
coming to the Bombers, Stegall played for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals for three
seasons, playing in 21 games between 1992 and 1994
