34-year-old quarterback completed ten seasons with the Stampeders; signed with Tiger-Cats in 2023. It’s been billed as a homecoming of sorts: Bo Levi Mitchell, the 34-year-old veteran quarterback who spent 10 seasons under center for the Calgary Stampeders, is making his long-awaited return to the stadium where he established CFL records and lit up defenses.
But for the man in the spotlight, it’s business as usual.
“I’m just ready to go get my first win there,” Mitchell told reporters in Hamilton after practice on Monday. “If anything I’m just excited to go play in front of the fans in a stadium that I’ve played in a lot and I’m familiar with.”
The Stampeders start their 2024 season on Friday night at McMahon Stadium.
versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who signed the Texas-born playcaller in January 2023. Mitchell’s debut season with the Tiger-Cats was cut short due to injuries, preventing an early return to McMahon. The two-time Grey Cup MVP started six games in black and yellow in 2023.
Mitchell said the wait adds to the excitement of Friday night’s game.
“It’s something that I wanted to happen last year, but the year of suspense, I guess, makes it a little bit bigger,” he stated.
Mitchell was the CFL’s most outstanding player in both 2016 and 2018. In 2014, he led the team to 12 victories and one loss, the best record among first-year starting quarterbacks.
Mitchell is the only Stampeder quarterback who has started and won the Grey Cup more than once.
‘Bo knows us well, too’
After ending the 2023 season with a loss against the B.C. Lions in the west semifinal, Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson is focused on what happens on the field and not the narrative off it.
He’s going into his eighth season with the team, and an opening-day win would be a welcome start for the club after a record of 6-12 during last year’s campaign.
“None of us were happy with it, but it’s a new team,” Dickenson said, talking about last year. “I love Bo and all that, but we got to focus on the game … Everybody wants to start the season off with a win.” The 51-year-old head coach was once in Mitchell’s position, when he made a return of his own to Calgary while playing with the B.C. Lions.
Dickenson said having a former player on the other side as both a blessing and a curse.
“Bo also knows us well. “He knows the [defensive backs] and their tendencies,” he explained. Reflecting on his personal experience, he recalls then-BC head coach Wally Buono asking him to break down the team for the Lions prior to the game.
“[Wally] said, ‘They’re coming after you,’ so I went after them,” recalled Dickenson. “That’s exactly Bo’s mentality, I’m going to guarantee you it’s ‘Go ahead, come after me, I’m coming after you.'”
After Friday night’s game, the Stampeders will travel to Vancouver for a replay of last year’s west semifinal versus the Lions. They’ll return to McMahon two weeks later for a game against last year’s Grey Cup runner-up, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, before flying east to face the defending champion Alouettes in Montreal to begin July.
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