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Hamilton Tiger-Cats long snapper and former Crescent Heights High School Viking Aaron Crawford is feeling a bit of pressure for the Ti-Cats to make the Grey Cup game -- his parents already have a hotel room booked. Photo from www.ticats.caHamilton Tiger-Cats long snapper and former Crescent Heights High School Viking Aaron Crawford is feeling a bit of pressure for the Ti-Cats to make the Grey Cup game -- his parents already have a hotel room booked.

“Yeah, that’s the plan. It’d be awesome. My parents already have a room booked, so the pressure’s on and I’ve got to get it going.” So said former Crescent Heights Viking and current Hamilton Tiger-Cat Aaron Crawford, contemplating playing for the Grey Cup on Nov. 25 in Edmonton. He believes he’s a member of an elite team that’s as good as anybody.

“Absolutely. We believe we are peaking at the right time. Our goal is to get better every week. As long as we keep doing that, there’s no reason why we can’t win the championship.”

They beat the Argonauts last Friday and begin a home-and-home showdown for first place against the Redblacks in Ottawa this Friday.

“Obviously we’re very confident. Basically our goal is to win out. We want to get the first round bye. It’s in our hands whether we make it or not.”

It has been a tough year for the former Viking, making it back from tearing his ACL and meniscus in 2017 against Ottawa, just when he was really comfortable in his long snapper role. He had surgery at the end of the season. I asked him about rehab.

“It was quite the process, actually,” he said with a chuckle. “It starts off with the meniscus. You can’t put any weight on your leg for six to eight weeks. After that there’s not much you can do at all — basically, come in for check-ups and work on other muscles. Then you start from the ground up with walking a little bit, then exercises, then using weights. It’s a slow process. Then eventually they let you run a little bit. Very, very small increments, a day by day thing. It seems to take forever.”

Often when a player sustains such an injury the team cuts them loose. But Crawford’s coach June Jones, an NFL and NCAA veteran, said Crawford was the best long snapper he ever had and that when he was healed he would be back in the lineup. Crawford returned July 28 against Ottawa.

Before that, Crawford came in every day to work out and watch the Johnny Manziel circus. “Yeah, I was coming in to do my rehab and see the guys but I was a bystander. There was a lot of media stuff and it’s easy to be distracted when something like that is going on. You go from a couple of guys covering practice to a flock of media people. I think the guys were very professional and handled it well.”

He agreed with the trade that sent Manziel to the Alouettes. “It was a really good deal with Montreal. I thought we came out ahead.” As for the quarterback who remained? “Masoli has proven himself time and time again.”

Was Crawford surprised at June Jones’ high praise? “Yes, it caught me off guard because I spend most of my days looking at things I could do better. You never dwell much on what’s done right. I’m always looking at what I can improve on.”

Snapping the ball back to the punter or holder is the least of his worries. “The quickest way to the kicker when you’re trying to block a kick is if you can somehow get in the middle. There’s a lot of pressure on the two guards and me to handle the twists and stunts. We’re lighter than the defence in order to get downfield faster so we’ve really got to multi-task in there.”

In his sixth CFL season, Aaron Crawford is a battle-tested veteran. He survived a devastating injury and has come back stronger than ever. He’s tough, the epitome of what a Steeltown player should be. And, he’s the best long snapper in the league.

While Aaron and his mates are fighting it out with Ottawa, the playoff scenario in the West may become clearer this weekend. If Calgary wins or ties against Saskatchewan (both teams are badly beat up right now) they finish first. If the Lions defeat the Eskimos at B.C. Place they will complete their remarkable comeback and clinch a spot, eliminating 2018 Grey Cup host Edmonton from contention. If the Riders win at McMahon and B.C. loses or ties, Saskatchewan can finish no worse than second and host a post-season game.

Graham Kelly has covered the CFL for the Medicine Hat News for 46 years. Feedback for this column can be emailed to sports@medicinehatnews.com.