When assessing the CFL’s ongoing race for Most Outstanding Player, one individual has started to separate themselves from the pack: Bo Levi Mitchell.
The 33-year-old has thrown for 4,044 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions this season, leading the league in completions, pass attempts, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and completions of 30 yards or more. He’s 690 passing yards and five touchdown passes ahead of any other quarterback, making him a strong candidate to lead the league in both categories come the end of the season.
Quarterbacks win M.O.P. at a rate of around 70 percent and Mitchell has been easily the league’s best this season. He’s previously won the award twice, so one would think there’s nothing controversial about him potentially taking it home for a third time.
Here’s the problem: the Hamilton Tiger-Cats aren’t good. That might be a little unfair — the team has won three straight games against likely playoff-bound opponents — but at 5-9, they’re going to need some help to reach the postseason whether it’s as the third seed in the East Division or the crossover to the West Division.
Can a player win M.O.P. despite missing the playoffs? History would suggest the answer is yes as two individuals have previously done so: Willie Burden and Jimmy Edwards.
Burden was named the CFL’s M.O.P. in 1975 after recording 332 carries for 1,896 yards and 10 touchdowns, 36 catches for 231 yards and five touchdowns, and 16 kickoff returns for 360 yards. He finished 442 rushing yards ahead of George Reed, who ranked second league-wide in what was his final professional season at the age of 36.
The product of North Carolina State University broke Earl Lunsford’s single-season rushing record of 1,794 yards, which was set in 1961. He also set a new CFL record with 2,127 yards from scrimmage, which stood until Willard Reaves surpassed it in 1984.
The Calgary Stampeders missed the playoffs despite Burden’s dominance, finishing fourth in the West Division at 6-10. Had the crossover rule existed, Calgary would have earned the third and final playoff spot in the East Division ahead of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who were 5-10-1. The Stampeders also finished with a better point differential (plus-24) than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (minus-43), who finished one spot ahead of the team at 6-8-2.
Edwards won M.O.P. in 1977 after being a runner-up for the award the previous year. He recorded 250 carries for 1,581 yards and six touchdowns, 39 catches for 223 yards, 46 punt returns for 548 yards, and 13 kickoff returns for 321 yards to lead the league with 2,673 combined yards, which set a new CFL record. His rushing total was 319 yards ahead of Jim Washington, who ranked second league-wide that season.
The Oklahoma City native’s performance wasn’t enough to help the Tiger-Cats make the playoffs as they finished last in the East Division at 5-11, two points back of the third-place Toronto Argonauts. Hamilton’s point differential (minus-111) was the worst in the league, though the Calgary Stampeders had a worse record at 4-12.
Burden and Edwards are the only two M.O.P. winners whose teams failed to make the playoffs. However, if we dig a little deeper, there are a few more whose teams were decidedly mediocre.
Solomon Elimimian, the only purely defensive player ever to win M.O.P., played for the B.C. Lions in 2014, a team that finished 9-9 and got crushed by the Montreal Alouettes in the East Semi-Final after earning the crossover spot.
Warren Moon won M.O.P. in 1983 despite Edmonton finishing third in the West Division at 8-8. The team was blown out in the West Semi-Final by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Moon left for the NFL the subsequent off-season.
Don Jonas captured the award in 1971 despite the Blue Bombers finishing 7-8-1 and losing the West Semi-Final in Saskatchewan. George Reed was named M.O.P. in 1965 despite Saskatchewan finishing 8-7-1 and losing the West Semi-Final in Winnipeg.
The worst team to feature a CFL M.O.P. was the Montreal Alouettes who, in 1962, finished third in the East Division at 4-7-3. George Dixon rushed 216 times for 1,520 yards and 11 touchdowns, caught 24 passes for 393 and four touchdowns, and returned 12 kickoffs for 296 yards. He even helped the Alouettes upset the Ottawa Rough Riders in the East Semi-Final before losing to Hamilton in the East Final. Regardless, there’s no denying that a four-win regular season is pretty abysmal.
It should also be noted that two NFL players have won MVP despite missing the playoffs, though there’s a caveat: their teams were both really good.
Johnny Unitas led the Baltimore Colts to a record of 11-1-2 in 1967 but the club finished second in the Western Conference Coastal Division. Back then, only the top team from each division made the playoffs and the Los Angeles Rams beat them out for the top spot.
O.J. Simpson helped the Buffalo Bills go 9-5 in 1973 but the team finished second in the AFC East behind the eventual Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins, who went 12-2. There was one wildcard spot available but it went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who finished second in the AFC Central with a record of 10-4.
The other argument against Mitchell’s candidacy for M.O.P. is he temporarily lost his starting job earlier this season. Had Taylor Powell not been injured during the opening series of Hamilton’s game against Edmonton last month, it’s possible that Mitchell wouldn’t have played another snap all year.
Here’s the thing: it’s not unprecedented for an M.O.P. to split reps at quarterback and get benched late in the season.
Casey Printers started 14 games for the B.C. Lions in 2004 and took the league by storm, throwing for 5,088 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions and rushing 82 times for 469 yards and nine scores. He suffered a shoulder injury during the West Final and served as a backup to Dave Dickenson in the Grey Cup, which B.C. lost to the Toronto Argonauts.
None of this is to say Mitchell will or should win M.O.P. this season. There’s another month of regular season games to be played and it’s possible, however unlikely, that the Tiger-Cats could still make the playoffs. There’s also a chance that another player could come on strong and become the new front-runner for the award before the season is over.
Regardless, there is at least some historical precedent for an M.O.P. playing for a non-playoff team — even if it hasn’t happened for almost 50 years.
