This team of misfits became champions and gave God the glory.
“We chose love all year.”
The 105th Grey Cup will go down in the history books as one of the greatest Canadian Football League championship games ever played. Held at TD Place Stadium at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, this late November 2017 matchup between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders will unequivocally be remembered for a host of reasons.
Canadian country music icon Shania Twain made her return to the Grey Cup (via dogsled) as the half-time entertainment for the first time since 2002, the Argonauts completed a come-from-behind victory — in which their first lead of the game came with 53 seconds left to play, — and most notably, a colossal batch of snow was served up just in time for kick-off, creating extremely jocular football conditions for both players and fans alike.
But for Christians taking in the yearly spectacle, the main attraction of Grey Cup 105 undoubtedly came shortly after the final whistle sounded.
DeVier Posey — a 27-year-old former National Football League wide receiver — had just played the game of his life for the victor Argos, and was receiving the appropriate accolades associated for such an accomplishment, when the TSN television crew turned their microphone and lens to the 6-foot-2, 210 pound California native.
Even before jubilantly celebrating his capture of the nation’s greatest football trophy with his teammates, Posey took five minutes away from his team and showed the entire stadium and television viewing audience just how deeply rooted he is in his faith. Basing his on-field interview off of the verse, “To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen!” (Galatians 1:5), Posey also managed to provide some other behind-the-scenes insights into the 2017 Grey Cup Champions.
“First off, I want to give glory to God, our Lord and Saviour,” Posey said to TSN’s Matthew Scianitti.
Without Him, nobody would be on this field. He brought these special men together. Every man in this locker room has been through adversity at some point in their lives. (Head Coach) Marc Trestman just got fired (by the Baltimore Raves), all the way down, (Montreal) let Bear Woods and S.J. Green go. We came together and we loved each other; we chose love all year. When we had bad losses, coach Trestman came in and loved on us. He never ripped us. And love prevails. Love always wins.
Loving one’s teammates can be very easy… when things are going well, that is. But as Posey alluded to in his post-game chat, things weren’t always well within the locker room. Some players had been cut, others had been traded, while even highly-touted Head Coach Marc Trestman had recently been fired from his job in NFL. But, it was the perfect mix of talent and leadership that ultimately pushed the underdog Argonauts over the top, knocking off the heavily favoured Stampeders for the league crown.
Leading the way was 2017 Grey Cup Most Valuable Player, DeVier Posey. The former Houston Texan, New York Jet and Denver Bronco put together a 7-175-1 statline in the Grey Cup with seven receptions for 175 yards, including a touchdown.
And no, it wasn’t just any touchdown, it was a recordsetting, end zone-diving, 100-yard passing play — the longest such play in Canadian Football championship game history. When asked about that play, and his team’s overall effort in the victory, once again, Posey did not hold back.
I just want to give thanks to the Lord, without Him I wouldn’t be here,” he admitted. “He constructed this locker room. He put these great men next to each other — these great fathers, these great husbands, these hard workers. Everybody in our locker room has been through adversity. And we battled. If y’all can’t tell by our record, we’re fighters; we love each other. And this ain’t mine man, I’m doing this for my boys. I love these dudes.
Interestingly, with the spotlight on himself as the Grey Cup MVP, Posey decided to turn the viewing audience’s attention to the rectitude and character of his fellow teammates — an incredibly selfless gesture from the former Ohio State Buckeye.
“All I can do from these guys is learn,” the 2012 third round NFL draft pick said. “Most importantly, I can learn how to be a better father and a better husband. Because these guys are better at that than they are players. And I love them for that.”
With broad NFL experience, a CFL alltime record, a Grey Cup Championship, and a memorable altruistic post-game speech to his name, DeVier Posey has fully embodied the verse found in Galatians 1:5, “To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen!”
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