CALGARY — The Montreal Alouettes have already toppled the Saskatchewan Roughriders twice this season, but Jason Armstead figures he’s starting with a clean slate.
The last time the two teams met, Gang Green’s elusive return man was earning his paycheques washing vehicles in sun-scorched Mississippi.
“Oh man, I had some hot days,” Armstead recalled. “I tell the guys this story all the time. One day, I had to wash one F-350, two F-250s and an F-150. I'm telling you, I’m sitting on top of that truck and I’m draining sweat. I’m so hot and I told myself, ‘This is not it.’
“I knew what my calling was.”
If the Riders can outlast the Alouettes in Sunday‚s Grey Cup tug-of-war at McMahon Stadium, they’ll be calling him a champion.
A few months ago, that seemed like the Hail Mary of all long-shots. Armstead was released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in March and waited six months for another chance to get paid to play football.
The 30-year-old started a vehicle detailing business and was also dabbling in the music industry, hoping his phone would ring. The Riders finally called and Armstead signed for his second stint in Regina at the beginning of September.
“I got a little taste of the real world and what it has for you,” Armstead said. “But I knew my investment in my body was football, so I never stopped working out.
“This is what I‚m meant to be doing. One thing about it, I know I can still play this game. I know I can still run, still catch, still play receiver, so the biggest thing was just being able to get back and help a team out.”
He’s certainly help inject some life into Saskatchewan’s once-struggling return game.
In 10 games with the Riders, Armstead's has averaged 24.4 yards per attempt on kickoff returns and a respectable 9.2 yards when fielding punts.
In last weekend’s West Division Final victory over the Calgary Stampeders, he reminded fans of his flair for the dramatic, setting up one touchdown with a 75-yard kickoff return and laying the groundwork for another major with a 42-yard pass on an option play.
Armstead is set to appear in his first Grey Cup game, the culmination of a long journey that has also included stints with the now-defunct Ottawa Renegades, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and even a four-game stay in Montreal.
Ironically, the Alouettes released Armstead early last season after a costly mistake in a loss to the Riders.
He insisted there’s no hard feelings this week.
“Here I am now, I’m back in Green,” he said with a shrug. “And the sky is still the limit.”
Sure beats washing trucks.
