Chris Streveler is back in the CFL as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after a four-year run with four different NFL teams. The most notable moment from his tenure south of the border, aside from perhaps a dominant preseason run with the New York Jets in 2022, came in 2020 when he was a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
The 29-year-old took over from an injured Kyler Murray early in the first quarter of the club’s regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams and faced immediate pressure after dropping back to pass shortly before halftime. Terrell Lewis came unblocked off the edge, forcing Streveler to float a pass to Trent Sherfield. The ball was intercepted by Troy Hill, who returned it for a touchdown.
“What a horrific mistake by Reveler [sic],” said commentator Boomer Esiason, who was stepping in for an ill Tony Romo on the CBS broadcast at the time. “This isn’t the Grey Cup. This isn’t the CFL. You can’t just take chances and throw the ball down the middle of the field and expect somebody not to come down with it. There’s just no reason to throw the ball there.”
Esiason’s commentary immediately went viral north of the border, drawing backlash from coaches, players, fans, and members of the media.
Déjà vu 🤩@thrilll_32 with the pick-6! pic.twitter.com/1C3c75Z0an
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 3, 2021
“I wouldn’t say it was unfair to me by any means — I made a mistake, I threw a pick-six, that’s a bad play. I thought it was unfair to the league,” Streveler told the media via videoconference on Thursday.
“I never had a chance to talk to him about it. I would have just asked for clarification as to what he meant, but I’m not going to press him. You’re on the air, you say something, comes off. It’s not personal, he’s just doing his job just like I’m trying to do my job.”
3DownNation has posted over 22,000 articles since it was launched in May 2015 and the Esiason story remains the fourth-most popular story in the history of the website.
This publication requested an interview with Esiason in the days following the game, though CBS declined. The 62-year-old former NFL MVP recently made headlines for incorrectly reporting that Ben Johnson would be the next head coach of the Washington Commanders and almost fighting a belligerent NFL fan at a Baltimore train station.
Streveler finished the game completing 11-of-16 pass attempts for 105 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in an 18-7 loss to the Rams. Murray returned in the fourth quarter to try to propel his team to a win and a playoff spot but was unable to provide the necessary spark. The loss cost the Cardinals a berth in the postseason after finishing the season with an 8-8 record.
“That game obviously didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, so in a situation like that, I’m staying off social media, but I did see that stuff. If you watch the clip, I threw the pass because I thought they were offsides. We didn’t have a play called, we had a hard cadence, in fact, they jumped. On my end, I gotta confirm and see the flag but that’s why you take a chance with the ball like that thinking that you got a free play in a two-minute situation,” said Streveler.
“Obviously, it ended up being a pick-six and an unfortunate play, but I think that that’s a really unfair shot at the CFL. I have so much respect for the game and the players that are up here, I don’t think that’s fair to the league at all. There’s a lot of really talented quarterbacks and I don’t think [the three-down] game is based on just throwing the ball up by any means. It’s unfortunate that that’s maybe the impression of the CFL that’s given to people because of that comment and me making a mistake at a critical point in the game.”
Now that he’s back in the CFL, the dual-threat quarterback indicated that he’s ready to take on any role in Winnipeg’s offence. He even told offensive coordinator Buck Pierce, who served as the team’s quarterbacks coach when Streveler was last with the club in 2019, that he’d be willing to block defensive ends if necessary.
In the meantime, he remains unsure of why more CFL players don’t get opportunities south of the border. Lwal Uguak, who recently signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending his rookie season with the Montreal Alouettes, is one of only four CFL players to sign NFL contracts so far this offseason. Among those who didn’t receive contract offers were stars like Brady Oliveira and Dalton Schoen as well as players like Carthell Flowers-Lloyd and Samuel Emilus, who had a substantial number of workouts.
“I hope that as time goes on, the NFL continues to respect the CFL more and more as they see guys coming from the CFL and coming down to the NFL and having success. Look at a guy like Alex Singleton, that’s a dude that’s balling. More guys can do that, I know they can because I’ve seen it myself. I played against them and I played in the NFL against the best guys in the world. I know what that talent looks like and I know that the CFL is not far off,” said Streveler.
“I’m always gonna be the biggest advocate for the CFL to anybody down in the States. Anyone that ever asked me in the NFL, ‘Oh, how was your time in the CFL?’ It was amazing. They have great players up there and you guys gotta watch it, especially in the summer when there’s no football on here (in the U.S.). June, July, we’ve gotta be getting the CFL on TV (in America). I’m pushing for that, I’m advocating for that, so you’re not going to find a bigger advocate for the CFL than me.”
CBS, Esiason’s current employer, now owns the CFL’s television broadcasting rights in the United States. Perhaps he’ll tune into a game or two this summer. If he does, maybe he’ll even learn something.
[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”fbb/winnipeg_blue_bombers” size=”100%x250″ site_id=”3downnation”]
John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.
