While the title was ultimately won in November, a call the Toronto Argonauts made in May might have been the most important one of their Grey Cup run.
And for Grey Cup MVP Nick Arbuckle, he sure seems happy that he decided to say “yes” to at least one more season of playing football.
Prior to the season, the Argonauts were in need of quarterback depth with Chad Kelly set to miss the opening half of the season due to a personal misconduct suspension. And though Arbuckle was considering hanging up the cleats and testing his luck in the coaching sphere, the Argonauts reached out to see if he’d be interested in coming to the team’s training camp.
Though the 31-year-old Arbuckle had played in four different CFL organizations since 2017, it seemed like it might be time for the game to pass him by. With only 27 roster spots available for quarterbacks league-wide, Arbuckle looked like he might be trying to find a high school coaching role if he couldn’t land anywhere.
“I was 30ish days away from doing that and luckily got this call to come to Toronto and compete for a role midway through training camp — never thought it would lead to this,” Arbuckle said earlier this week, as per 3DownNation’s Justin Dunk.
With Kelly out for nine games, Arbuckle ultimately split the duties between Cameron Dukes and Bryan Scott.
“When I didn’t sign anywhere in February, I started making calls and text messages to coaches and players who I knew in the coaching field. Started getting a feel for where people were at and where jobs in the coaching world might be,” Arbuckle said.
Arbuckle’s role on the team was mostly meant to keep the seat warm for Kelly, who was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player in 2023.
But Kelly was injured in last week’s Eastern Final against the Montreal Alouettes, and Arbuckle was thrust into the spotlight once again.
Though it might’ve been easy to doubt a quarterback who was on the verge of retirement earlier this season, Arbuckle delivered with 252 passing yards and two touchdowns to pick up the game’s MVP.
And though the future is unclear on what Arbuckle’s next steps will be, his performance on Sunday will forever hold a place in Grey Cup history.
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