Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ linebacker Adam Bighill relished winning the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton as the heavy favourite in 2021.
“Everyone had us circled us on their calendars. Everyone wanted to take us down. Everyone saw us as the favourites. It took us in the locker room understanding that we ain’t won nothing. We had to take it week-by-week, trying to go 1-0, and be humble and earn everything we get,” Bighill told Sporstnet’s Arash Madani.
“We knew we were going to get everyone’s best when they came and played us. That’s the whole different journey and so for us to finish it off like this, everyone wanting a piece of the defending champs, for us to cap it off like this and stay the team that couldn’t be beat, it’s pretty special.”
The Blue Bombers went 10-1 this season before clinching the top spot in the West Division, becoming the runaway favourites to repeat as Grey Cup champions. This was a far-cry from 2019 when Winnipeg entered the postseason as the third seed in the West Division with an 11-7 record.
Nobody picked Winnipeg to win it all two years ago, yet they walloped Calgary 35-14 on the road before beating the Riders 20-13 in the West Final. The Blue Bombers never trailed the heavily-favoured Ticats in the Grey Cup, winning 33-12 on the strength of 134 rushing yards from star running back Andrew Harris and seven defensive takeaways.
It was a shocking run from a team that faced a 29-year Grey Cup drought and an incredibly tough schedule. Winnipeg had gone 3-5 against Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Hamilton during the regular season in 2019, yet they outscored them by a combined 49 points en route to a championship.
The script was reversed in 2021 with Winnipeg being the consensus team to beat by the midway point of the season. They were also not nearly as dominant in the Grey Cup, trailing the Tiger-Cats 22-10 in the fourth quarter. Bighill credited the steady wind at Tim Hortons Field and the team’s confidence in itself for helping complete the late comeback.
“We got the wind behind us and the kicking game was in our favour, field position was in our favour. The defence just had to give our offence opportunities. Our guys went out to get it done. I told everyone on our side, ‘Man, Zach’s gonna go get this done. He’s going to march down the field for us,'” said Bighill. “When we got an opportunity to turn the lights off, we answered the bell.”
Winnipeg scored 15 late unanswered points until Hamilton took possession with 1:50 remaining, trailing 25-22. Jeremiah Masoli led a game-tying drive that ended in a 13-yard field goal from Michael Domagala that sent the game to overtime.
Collaros threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Darvin Adams in Winnipeg’s first possession followed by a two-point conversion to Rasheed Bailey. Hamilton was unable to answer the score with Kyrie Wilson intercepting Masoli, making the final score 33-25.
Bighill has now won three Grey Cups in his future Canadian Football Hall of Fame career, including two with Winnipeg. He was also honoured at Friday’s CFL awards ceremony during which he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player for the third time.
“This is what you play for. This is why you play the game and to have another one, it just means everything,” he said. “It means everything for me to put it on the line for everyone who bleeds blue and gold, for Winnipeg, for everyone in Manitoba. It’s home for me and I could not be more happy to give everybody out there what they wanted, bringing the Cup back. It means everything.”
