Familiar face returns as Tiger-Cats open season in Calgary

Two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player Bo Levi Mitchell returns to Calgary as a visiting player for the first time when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats open the season against the Stampeders on Friday night.

Mitchell guided Calgary to Grey Cup titles in 2014 and 2018 and was named the game's MVP on both occasions. He won his regular-season MOP awards in 2016 and 2018.

Mitchell passed for 32,541 yards, 188 touchdowns and 89 interceptions for the Stampeders from 2012-19 and 2021-22. The 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.

Calgary traded Mitchell to the Tigers-Cats after the 2022 season. He was limited to six games in 2023 due to an adductor injury and a fractured leg. He missed a regular-season home game against Calgary due to the leg injury.

"I'm pretty excited, it's something I wanted to happen last year but the year of suspense I guess makes it just a little bit bigger," the 34-year-old Mitchell told reporters. "I have no ill feelings about anything that happened over there.

"So, if anything, I'm just excited to go play in front of the fans in a city I've played in a lot and I'm very familiar with, obviously. I'm just ready to go get my first win there."

Mitchell will be looking to help Hamilton rebound from an 8-10 season. The Tiger-Cats also have a new head coach in Scott Milanovich.

Calgary went 6-12 last season and will be counting on quarterback Jake Maier, who passed for 4,244 yards, 19 touchdowns and 15 interceptions last season.

Maier might have less rope this season as Calgary kept five quarterbacks on its final roster. One of them is Matt Shiltz, who passed for 1,556 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions for Hamilton last season.

"We think we've got some good ones," said Stampeders coach Dave Dickenson, the 2006 Grey Cup MVP for the BC Lions. "There's value in the quarterback position. If you're strong in the trenches, in the quarterback position, in Canadian content, I think you can win a lot of games."

Linebacker Darius Williams (calf) and defensive back Daniel Amoako (knee) have been ruled out of Friday's game for Calgary. Defensive lineman Jason Janvier-Messier (Achilles), receiver Rysen John (hamstring) and offensive lineman Kyle Saxelid (knee) also will sit out.

Tiger-Cats running back James Butler, who rushed for a career-high 1,116 yards last season, is listed as questionable with a hamstring injury. Hamilton has ruled out linebackers Carthell Flowers-Lloyd (hamstring) and Penei Pavihi (abdomen), offensive linemen Dayton Black (Achilles) and Jordan Murray (knee) and cornerback Jamal Peters (hamstring).

--Field Level Media