Hard-nosed and relentless: those are probably the most accurate terms you could use to describe both Cory Mantyka and Jason Clermont. The gritty offensive tackle and sure-handed slotback will be inducted into the BC Lions Wall of Fame as part of a halftime ceremony Saturday night. Both originally hail from the football-mad province of Saskatchewan and that certainly played a role in their willingness to pay the price and never give up. Mantyka arrived in the den back in 1993 and won his first Grey Cup a year later when the Lions pulled off road upsets in Edmonton and Calgary before taking down the Baltimore CFLers in the championship game here at BC Place.
 |
 |
 |
His induction to the Wall of Fame is just icing on the cake. “My first thought was that it is a great honour to be associated with anything to do with Bobby Ackles,” Mantyka said.
The late Ackles established the Wall of Fame in 2003, one year after he returned to the Lions as President. He was inducted in 2009, one year after his passing.
Mantyka won another Grey Cup championship in 2000, picked up a CFL West Division All-Star nod in 2003 and is one of only six players in franchise history to reach the 200-game milestone. He insists the two championships trumped everything else by a long shot.
“I didn’t care about individual stats. It was all about winning the Grey Cup. In hindsight, I wish I appreciated the 1994 win more at the time. I was a wide-eyed, young guy and that whole year was crazy. Guys fought with each other and there were more holes left in walls than I can remember. It was the antithesis of team
chemistry, more like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Guys fought with each other and there were more holes left in walls than I can remember. It was the antithesis of team chemistry, more like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Six years later, he was a wily veteran and knew it could very well be his last shot to sip champagne from Lord Earl Grey’s trophy. The 28-26 victory over Montreal at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium was preceded by defeating the Stampeders in their barn in the Western Final. It was payback from the year before when Calgary beat the Lions at home, denying Mantyka and company the chance to play in another Grey Cup at BC Place the following week.
“They were yelling at us to get out of their locker room, which was normally ours,” Mantyka recalled. “In that loss, our defence kicked the crap out of them and hit Dave Dickenson hard for four quarters. I am not sure how he got up after all those hits. Once we moved in to their locker room for Grey Cup week the next year, I was able to relax and appreciate it more than 1994. Getting back there is such a rarity and I made sure to enjoy it more the second time around.”
1994 and 2000 are two of the most classic cases of Cinderella stories, not just in the CFL but sports in general.
The fact Mantyka was able to be a part of both is something he will be telling his grandchildren about one day.
Following a stellar university career with his hometown Regina Rams, Clermont was drafted fourth overall by the Lions in 2002 and made an impact in his first year by winning the CFL Most Outstanding Rookie Award.
“I am honoured to be joining the Wall of Fame, and also very proud to be able to share the honour with a former teammate,” Clermont said.
Along with his toughness, number 82 was always known for making the big play when his team desperately needed it. Flashback to the 2004 Western Final when they were trailing the Roughriders by three points with less than a minute to go; on 2nd and 19, Clermont hauled in a 36-yard pass from Dave Dickenson to help set up a game-tying field goal before they broke the Riders’ hearts in OT. Twelve years after the fact, Clermont can still re-live that entire play, step by step.
“I remember Dave scrambling and needing an outlet. The ball came a little short inside, so I knew I had to get to it. After the catch I was concerned about the game clock so I tried to get to the sideline.”
Although they would lose the Grey Cup the following week, Clermont was the game’s Most Valuable Canadian and would then win his first ring two years later. “2006 Grey Cup was the highlight. That is why we played the game,” Clermont stated.
Many people look at the 2004 breakthrough as a turning point for the franchise, but Clermont insists it was constructed well before November 14th of that year. “I think the franchise turnaround came long before that game and was crafted by Mr. Ackles with the addition of Wally and Dickenson.”
Clermont, along with fellow receivers Simon, and Ryan Thelwell, helped form a nucleus that made the Lions perhaps the CFL’s most elite team during a four-year stretch starting with that dramatic playoff win over Saskatchewan.
Other kudos included two West Division All-Star nods and a pair of CFL Most Outstanding Canadian Awards in 2004 and 2007. Nowadays, the player known affectionately as “JC” is back home in Regina with his wife and four children, along with focusing on his post-football career as a real estate agent. “Playing football was great, but it was a huge commitment,” Clermont added. “Life after football is great also, and it gives me an appreciation of guys who were able to play while having young families. Hats off to those guys!”
Please join us in congratulating two great Lions on their Wall of Fame inductions!
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com