Hamilton Tiger-Cats franchise quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has defended the entertainment value of the Canadian Football League following negative comments made by first-year CFL on TSN analyst Luke Willson.
“Luke, welcome to the CFL. There’s gonna be quarterback sneaks in games, there’s gonna be penalties,” Mitchell told the media in Hamilton. “You tell me a fan that was at the game or watching on TV and the game comes down to the last second when it’s tied, and now a 99-yard return for a touchdown and tell me it’s not exciting. I don’t know, that’s for him to decide, I guess.”
Willson, a LaSalle, Ont. native who played eight seasons as a tight end in the NFL, performed sideline analysis during Friday night’s game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts. The 35-year-old later took to social media to post a long, critical note that has since garnered almost 300,000 views.
In the message, Willson called the game “hot garbage,” citing the high number of penalties and quarterback sneaks, Saskatchewan being awarded a point after missing a 33-yard field goal, Toronto’s high number of late-game check-down passes, an overall lack of deep throws, and the Argonauts being short a man on Mario Alford’s last-minute 99-yard return touchdown. He also accused the league itself and members of the media of telling “bold face lies” in order to “protect the game.”
The matchup at BMO Field did include a lot of penalties as Saskatchewan and Toronto combined for 29 infractions for 307 yards. For context, the CFL averaged 13.6 penalties per game in 2024, its lowest number since 1974. It’s also true that the Argonauts only had 11 players on the field for Alford’s game-winning touchdown, which was one of many reasons head coach Ryan Dinwiddie ripped his team postgame.
While acknowledging that not every play will be a highlight, Mitchell appears to be of the opinion that last week’s game between Saskatchewan and Toronto was saved by an iconic ending, even if Willson clearly disagrees.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-2) will host the Montreal Alouettes (3-0) at Hamilton Stadium on Friday, June 27 with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT.
