VANCOUVER — With a smile, and a shake of his head, Janarion Grant says there’s nothing personal for him about Sunday’s Grey Cup game even though the CFL’s top punt returner will be facing his old team when the Toronto Argonauts play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at BC Place Stadium.
No thoughts of revenge, maybe vindication?
“It’s not personal,” Grant said during Wednesday’s media day. “It’s another Grey Cup game. I’m blessed to be part of it. I’m just ready to go to work.”
Grant spent four years with Winnipeg, winning Grey Cups in 2019 and 2021. In 41 regular-season games the slippery 30-year-old from Fort Trilby, Fla., scored eight touchdowns on kick returns, making him the franchise’s all-time leader.
Even when the Bombers allowed Grant to become a free agent last winter he didn’t take it as a snub.
“It was a business deal,” he said. “It happens. You just move forward.
“The guys know how I am and how hard I work. They know I’m ready to play.”
When Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie realized Grant was available he encouraged general manager Michael (Pinball) Clemons to sign him.
“I didn’t understand why he was a free agent (but) I told Pinball, let’s get him in here,” said Dinwiddie.
Grant didn’t disappoint. He returned 67 punts for a league-leading 989 yards and three touchdowns during the regular season. He also was second in kickoff returns with 1,000 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s changed some games with his explosiveness on special teams,” said Dinwiddie. “Look at his season, it’s probably three or four games he really impacted. If it wasn’t for his performance, we’re probably not sitting here at this stage.”
Grant played a role in Toronto’s 30-28 win over the Montreal Alouettes in last weekend’s East Final. With the Argo’s trailing 16-7 late in the first half, he picked up a bouncing ball off a punt and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown.
Grant has a history of playoff heroics. As a Bomber, he returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown in Winnipeg’s 2022 West Final win over the B.C. Lions.
A week later, in the Grey Cup in Regina, Dinwiddie had a front-row seat when Grant returned a punt 102 yards for a touchdown. The play, early in the fourth quarter, looked to clinch the win for the Bombers but the Argos battled back for a 24-23 victory.
“It was definitely a highlight,” Grant said about his Grey Cup touchdown. “I’m always thinking, every time I touch the ball, I can do it.”
Grant is a compact five-foot-nine and 157 pounds. He is not a bruising runner that plows through people. Instead, he uses his speed and stealth to leave tacklers grasping at air.
He says vision and patience are important ingredients for a returner’s success.
“You have to stay focused, even if something bad happens,” said Grant. “Just being out there and make a different one play at a time. You know the next play you’re going to make a difference.
“There’s definitely patience. If something doesn’t happen right way, you look at film. That’s why we have the iPads on the sideline.”
The Argos finished second in the East this year with a 10-8 record but head into Sunday’s game as heavy underdogs. With starting quarterback Chad Kelly out with a serious leg injury, veteran Nick Arbuckle will be the starter.
For a man who can make lots of noise on the field, Grant is quiet and soft-spoken. Dinwiddie says he has the “best smile in the world.”
Toronto linebacker Wynton McManis believes that no matter what Grant says publicly, he wants to make a statement against the Bombers.
“You just want to win,” said McManis. “You want to get back at the other team in the back of your mind, but you don’t let that overcome you, don’t let it overtake you.”
Grant said his focus is to win the Grey Cup. It just happens to do that, he has to beat his old team,
“We got this far,” he said. “We know we can do better. We’re definitely not satisfied.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Jim Morris, The Canadian Press
