Freshly minted members of the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame loomed large this past weekend as the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats battled at Tim Hortons Field.

The double-class of inductees created when Covid scuttled the 2020 enshrinement ceremony included a pair of major participants in Saturday’s contest – Stamps president and general manager John Hufnagel and Ticats head coach Orlondo Steinauer.

Among the other honourees wearing their spiffy new Hall of Fame jackets on the Donut Box’s sidelines, Henry Burris was the star of the past most relevant to the players of the present toiling just a few yards away.

Not only is Burris an alum of both the Stamps and the Ticats, the Oklahoman’s Calgary franchise records are currently under all-out assault from the Texan currently at the controls for the Red and White.

As a matter of fact, during Saturday’s game, Bo Levi Mitchell passed Burris to become Calgary’s all-time leader in pass attempts. The record-breaking toss was a completion to Reggie Begelton during the final minute of the fourth quarter that set the stage for Rene Paredes’ game-tying field goal which in turn paved the way for Calgary’s OT victory.

Mitchell had already claimed the all-time franchise mark for completions last season and Burris’ totals in passing yards and touchdown throws are also on No. 19’s radar.

But the connection between Burris and Mitchell goes well beyond the record books.

While much of Burris’ Hall-of-Fame credentials – including four Most Outstanding Player award nominations and a Grey Cup MVP award in 2008 – were compiled during his time with the Stampeders, it wasn’t always grins and giggles for Smilin’ Hank in Calgary.

Critics occasionally bashed Burris for his perceived erratic play, so much so that distinct “Good Hank” and “Bad Hank” labels were hung on the quarterback depending on how things were going in a particular game.

Which brings us back to Mitchell.

Despite being the owner of the best winning percentage by a starting quarterback in CFL history, the two-time MOP has been facing unprecedented scrutiny and doubt after some injury problems and a 2021 season that saw Mitchell throw more interceptions than touchdown passes.

A caller during Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson’s weekly appearance on CHQR radio a few weeks ago pointedly asked if Mitchell was “past his expiry date.”

And a growing number of fans and reporters have been wondering aloud if it’s time to turn the team over to sophomore Jake Maier, who performed well in relief last season when Mitchell was sidelined for three games.

The calls for change only got louder on Saturday when Mitchell managed just 70 passing yards during a first half that saw the Stamps fall into a 24-3 hole against the Ticats.

Mitchell’s answer?

A 19-completion, 243-yard, two-touchdown second half that fuelled a remarkable comeback victory.

Mitchell’s follow-up to his answer?

A defiant post-game address to the media in which Mitchell made no effort to hide the satisfaction he felt from making the critics eat their words. Even if one of the doubters was himself.

“I didn’t think the criticism was unjust,” he admitted. “At the exit meetings (following his subpar 2021 season), I was telling (quarterbacks coach Marc) Mueller and (head coach) Dave (Dickenson) I don’t know if I’m coming back because I didn’t want to go out and play like that anymore.”

Mitchell felt healthy at training camp and believed his injury issues were behind him.

“But I want to see it translate into the game,” he stated.

In the second half in Hamilton, it all came together.

“It was the first time I felt like myself in two-and-a-half years,” he said, “where I could put the ball where I wanted to and I’ve got that confidence and that mojo. I love Jake to death, but to all the people who were always asking for the backup quarterback, it was kind of that (I’ll-show-you) moment of, ‘Hey, I’m here and I’m here to stay.’ ”

It’s under these dramatic circumstances that the 32-year-old prepares to play his 150th career regular-season game as a member of the Stampeders as Calgary plays host to the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.

Mitchell will become the first pure quarterback in team history to reach that service-time milestone.

Jerry Keeling suited up for 184 games with the Red and White but for several seasons of his remarkable Calgary career, he was primarily an all-star defensive back.

Burris accumulated 146 games over his two stints with Calgary.

Interestingly, the only other QB to dress for more than 100 games is the man who links Burris and Mitchell – Drew Tate. It was Tate who was tabbed to be the next No. 1 pivot when the Stamps traded Burris to Hamilton on Dec. 3, 2011, for a package that included veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn.

At the following training camp, Mitchell was the rookie who claimed the No. 3 job behind Tate and Glenn on the depth chart. Mitchell was soon elevated to the backup role when Tate suffered an injury in Week 2.

And when both Tate and Glenn were sidelined a month into the 2013 campaign, Mitchell was suddenly the main man. He responded in spectacular fashion – throwing for 376 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start – and by the time the 2014 season kicked off, the No. 1 job once held by Burris was his.

“I didn’t get to know Henry right away but when we played against him, he would come over and talk to me after the game and I have a lot of respect for the guy,” said Mitchell. “At the time, there were still guys in this locker room like (Dimitri) Tsoumpas and (Jon) Gott (who had been Calgary teammates of Burris) and they would always tell me, ‘If you want to be like Henry, you’ve got to be in the weight room all the time. You’ve got to be in the film room all the time.’ There was a respect that was built into this locker room. A respect that I already had for Henry without even having had any interaction with him.

“So chasing him and these records, I understand the amount of work he put in to have those records and the effect he had on this locker room for years. I took over a team that he helped build and then got to play against him in Grey Cups. And for him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame (last week) . . . that’s what’s beautiful about the CFL – it always comes full circle.”

As he came running out of the tunnel prior to the Saturday’s game, Mitchell crossed paths with both Burris and Nik Lewis, the former Stamps slotback who was also just enshrined into the Hall.

“They were both saying. ‘Hey give us a show. We want to see something,’ ” Mitchell recalled. “And then I swear, I’m sitting there and we’re down 24-0 and I look up in the far right booth where all of the Hall of Fame guys are sitting and in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘If I’m up there watching me right now, I’m questioning whether that guy’s a Hall-of-Fame quarterback.’

“But all of a sudden, I had this mojo about myself: ‘You need to go and show these guys. Show it to yourself again and prove who you are.’ It was very satisfying.

“I wanted to prove to (TSN panelists Davis Sanchez and Milt Stegall) and everyone who was saying that (Maier) was ready whenever I couldn’t get it done. But really, I was showing myself, Dave, Huff, everybody that wears red and white and everybody who bought my jersey 10 years ago that I’ve still got it.”

Calgary Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell throws the ball against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats during first half CFL football action in Hamilton, Ont., Saturday, June 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch

Mitchell started his career by tying a CFL record with wins in his first seven starts and his initial full season as Calgary’s No. 1 QB ended with an MVP performance in a Grey Cup victory over Hamilton.

He’s since added another Grey Cup MVP award – in the process becoming the first Stamps QB to lead the franchise to multiple championships – a pair of MOP awards and a slew of team and league records.

Off the field, the brash young Texan has become a mature family man, with his, wife Madi and daughters Ele and Lakelyn making the Calgary area their year-round home.

Over the years, his success and his willingness to stir the pot, most notably with the members of Rider Nation, have made him a villain in the league’s other venues from coast to coast.

“You learn from every moment,” Mitchell says now. “There are times I look back at my career and think, ‘Oh yeah, I was right – that was OK to say.’ And then there are things I look back and think, ‘What was wrong with you? Why would you say that?’ ”

“I had a lot of conversations with Nik Lewis and he was one of those guys who would say whatever he wanted but then he backed it up on game day. And that was something he always told me: ‘People are scared of you because of your confidence. They fear you and what you can do because they think you’re unflappable. You have to always keep that, but you have to back it up.’ If you can’t back it up, those words mean nothing. I always took that to heart.

“When it comes to top players in the league – MOPs, all-stars – you have to have a personality. In the beginning of my career, the first three or four years, I’m (famously low-key) Ricky Ray, not saying anything in the media. Then I go to the Nik Lewis (end of the scale in regards to being quotable) and those things came back to bite me at times. I’ve been to both sides of it, I’ve learned some things and I know when I can lean towards that Nik side of things and times when I need to lean towards the Ricky Ray side.”

Mitchell may not be as impetuous now as he was earlier in his Stamps career, but as his post-game bravado on Saturday demonstrated, the competitive fire within him still burns hot. It’s the same drive that made him a Texas state champion at Katy High School, a national champ at Eastern Washington University and author of a 86-22-2 record as a starter in the pros.

Still, while fiercely proud, Mitchell remains a team player.

Take Week 1, for instance, when Maier replaced an injured Mitchell late in the game against Montreal. Maier led the Stamps on a drive that produced the game-winning field goal and Mitchell – in his seventh season as a team captain – presented his understudy with the game ball.

Mitchell could have easily given the nod to receiver Richie Sindani, who produced his first career 100-yard game and made some clutch catches in the late going, but Mitchell made a point to shine the spotlight on the guy some were saying should have his job.

“That’s what Dave’s been trying to get across from the very beginning,” said Mitchell. “To me, what that does is that it shows everybody that it’s not you against anybody else wearing a red-and-white jersey. If we’re going to win a Grey Cup, it’s going to take every single person in this room. My job as the leader is to embody that (philosophy) more than anybody else.

“A game ball to me doesn’t signify who had the most stats. To me, it’s who had that impact play or that impact moment that defined the game. In my mind, when I looked at it, it was important to give that to Jake.”

The 25-year-old Maier may well inherit the Stamps’ top job for good someday but during the second half in Hamilton, Mitchell showed everyone he isn’t quite ready to turn over the reins. It was just the latest example of why one day Mitchell will be wearing a spiffy Hall of Fame jacket of his own.