Toronto Argonauts GM Pinball Clemons has long heart-to-heart with Janarion Grant after costly fumble

Photo: Guang Quan/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

At 5:08 p.m. local time, Toronto Argonauts returner Janarion Grant finally stood up and took off his shoulder pads.

64 minutes had passed since the conclusion of his team’s season-ending 25-22 East Semi-Final loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Argos locker room had nearly entirely cleared out by that point, with only a few members of the 45-man roster still packing up their belongings or completing treatment before heading out from BMO Field.

And then there was Grant, who finally began the wind-down process with a handshake to a pair of fans visiting the locker room.

Grant had spent much of the postgame inconsolable, with a blue-and-white striped towel draped over his head. A fumble by him on a punt return that was forced by Winnipeg’s Nick Hallett with just over 90 seconds left proved to be the turning point that led to the Bombers’ game-winning touchdown by Nic Demski in the game’s waning moments.

For around 20 of those minutes in the locker room, one man sat by Grant’s side with his arm around him: Toronto general manager Michael “Pinball” Clemons.

Only a few words were exchanged between the pair and any interview requests were quickly rebuffed, with Grant still clearly going through the overwhelming emotions of the crushing defeat.

“First of all, [I told Grant], ‘We love you and we care about you,'” Clemons told 3DownNation from the locker room following the loss. “You want to build [Grant] up again. In terms of the exact words [I told him], they are what they are.”

Grant helped the Argonauts win the Grey Cup in 2024, the same year he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. He also won two previous Grey Cups with Winnipeg, the team that won on Saturday due in part to his late-game error.

“The whole idea [of what I told Grant is], ‘You have made such a great difference for this football team over several years, not just this year, and the mistakes happen,'” Clemons added.

Grant recorded 826 punt return yards during the regular-season, third in the CFL. He was also the lone player this season to record a pair of punt return touchdowns, as he moved into second all-time in league history with 12, behind only the legendary Henry ‘Gizmo’ Williams.

Clemons earned his famous nickname largely through his special teams returning ability during his heyday with the Argonauts across 12 seasons from 1989 to 2000. However, before he became a CFL legend, Clemons felt that a crucial fumble during his brief NFL tenure may have been the dagger to his own American pro football career.

While on the roster with the Tampa Bay Buccanneers after being waived by the Kansas City Chiefs, Clemons noted a preseason fumble he made on his first punt return that might’ve led to his failure to crack the team’s final roster.

“Those little things are magnified in certain positions,” Clemons said of special teams fumbles. “There were other plays that we didn’t make. Everybody on that field made mistakes.”

Canadian offensive lineman Peter Nicastro was one of several Argonauts who also spent a moment in the locker room with Grant postgame, hoping to offer support to his teammate.

“You can’t put it all on one play, there’s plays earlier in the game that I wish I had back,” said Nicastro. “[I was] reminding [Grant] of the player he is, the person he is. He’s a Hall of Famer, everyone knows it. He’s one of the best returners, one of the best players, one of the best people we’ve had in this organization.

“You never want to be the guy that you feel like you made the mistake that cost the game, but like I told him, we’ve made mistakes all season that could’ve put us in better positions.”

Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, who worked with Grant for four seasons in Winnipeg, delivered similar comments.

“Janarion Grant is a Hall of Fame returner,” he said. “Those things happen to Hall of Fame returners.”

Grant signed a contract extension in the days prior to the 2026 season, though his status is still publicly up in the air for next year. But at least according to his GM, he seems welcome back for another year, despite the crushing end to the season.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Clemons said regarding if he’d like Grant to return for another season. “Absolutely.”