50TH VANIER CUP INTERVIEW SERIES: 2007
A conversation with...
John Makie, quarterback, University of ManitobaBisons
In Vanier Cup XLIII, the Manitoba Bisons put an end to a37-year drought and captured the third national title in programhistory thanks to a 28-14 victory over the Saint Mary’sHuskies at Rogers Centre in Toronto. With the win, the Bisonscompleted the season with an unblemished 12-0 record and also endeda nine-year Vanier Cup dry spell for Canada West teams. John Makiewas behind centre for Manitoba and received the Bruce Coulter Awardas the game’s offensive MVP after he passed for 261 yards andone touchdown, while also scoring on a six-yard run.
What is your major memory of the entire Vanier Cupweek and the overall experience?
The best memory was the way our team was treated. We receivedfirst-class treatment everywhere we went in Toronto. From the RoyalYork Hotel stay to all of the buffets, it was a surreal feeling. Wewere used to changing out of a chicken coop at the old Butler Hutfootball facility on the University of Manitoba campus, and weplayed on a field without end zones. We were from the school ofhard knocks and weren't used to this treatment. A feeling ofprofessionalism came over me and some of the guys. Coming into afancy hotel with fancy dinners gave me the sense of, “Wow!This is how professionals are treated. This is how I need to act,this is awesome!”
What is your one major lasting memory of the actualgame?
One lasting memory is when I took a knee to run out the clock.All of the pain from losing in the 2006 conference final wasrelieved. All of the weights that were lifted were consolidated. Itwas a feeling and a sense of accomplishment.
I had gotten my wrist slapped from some of our coaches formaking a statement at the beginning of our 2007 season to JoePascucci from Global TV in Winnipeg. I said that I believed ourteam was on its way to winning the Vanier Cup. When I wasconfronted about this, I was not apologetic. I truly believed it, Iwoke up to that belief every morning, I felt it in my heart and thehearts of my teammates. We were hurting because something was takenaway from us in 2006. There has never been a time in my life that Iwas more motivated to win. To accomplish a goal that was set by ourentire team immediately following the 2006 Hardy Cup was somethingwords can't describe. Prior to 2007, after the many seasons that Ihad been playing the sport of football, I was never able to say,“I am a national champion”. And now, well, I stilldon't need to say it, the ring speaks for itself.
(Note: The Bisons were 9-0 overall heading into the 2006Canada West final, including a 35-16 win over Saskatchewan in theregular season, but lost 32-15 to the Huskies in the HardyCup)
What do you remember as the key play of thegame?
The key play to the game, for all of us on the team, was whenrunning back Matt Henry broke his leg. I remember running behindhim on the play where he was injured and trying to pick him upafter he was taken down. I didn’t see the hit initially, andas I was grabbing his shoulders to pick him up, our left tackle,Ryan Karhut, grabbed my shoulder and sharply said, “Makie,he's done for the day!”
Being upset about the fact that we were not going to have Mattin the game, I was getting refocused on the sidelines with CoachJeff Stead, who was facing the Jumbotron. I had my back turned tothe screen and, as we were talking, I remember Coach looking up atthe screen and then hearing the sound of 26,000 gags. I quicklyturned to see what had happened but missed the hit again. I turnedto Coach Stead, whose face had turned a shade of white, and Iasked, “What happened?” He blankly stared at me, gulpedand said, “Oh, he's not coming back.”
In 2007, our team was made up of hard-working, blue-collar ballplayers. Each week, we put on our hard hats and grabbed our lunchpails and went to work. We were all from different parts of thecountry and played our fair share of football. We understood whatit took to be a close team and who looked out for each other, as wewere truly a family. Our entire team rallied around the fact we hadlost one of our brothers and decided from that point on that wewere winning the game for Matt. It took us a little while to getour offence back in full swing. I vividly remember one of ourreceiver coaches, Stu Heaton, slapping me on the butt after MikeHoward’ second interception saying, “Let’s getthis thing going, the defence is doing their part, now let's doours, PUT IT IN THE END ZONE!” At that moment I rememberthinking to my young self, with a surge of confidence, “Ohyeah, we are unstoppable and we're going to win this game. Let'sscore!” A couple of plays later, wide receiver Steve Gronickscored our first touchdown.
(Note: Gronick caught a 39-yard TD pass from Makie 6:04 intothe second quarter to give the Bisons their first lead of the game,13-7. Up 13-8 at the half, Manitoba scored the only 10 points ofthe third frame to take a commanding advantage into thefourth)
What was your personal greatest play ormoment?
I will never forget when I took off and ran for a touchdown. Inever ran with the football, in fact I had a belief that the ballwas best carried by the real athletes on our team rather thanmyself. The memory will stick with me for as long as I live.
The play was called “14 hot BOB left FLIN/Bolt”. Wewere in a quad set, and I watched Jeff Strome and Karim Lowen runinto each other and both falling down. I then quickly checked ourshort-side receiver, Randy Simmons, who was also my roommate, whowas not expecting the ball on this play, and met his eyes. Randywas shocked that I was looking at him and immediately put up hishand with a defender stuck to him. The part I remember most, astime almost froze to think for this long, was when I sprinted ashard as I could outside of the pocket -- which was not that fast.While briefly looking at the turf, it seemed as though all of myflashbacks of playing football with my dad and brother in thebackyard in Regina came to me. That moment where you are about toscore a touchdown in the championship game was felt instantly. Iknew I was going to score and nobody was going to take that awayfrom me. Getting closer to the goal line, I didn't know if I wasgoing to get caught from behind as I felt someone on my heels, so Idove for the dramatics at the pylon. When I hit the ground, I gotup as fast as I could and without hesitation I looked for myroommate and our offensive line. At that moment, I knew we werewinning the national championship.
(Note: Makie’s running major 4:41 into the thirdquarter gave Manitoba a 20-8 lead)
Did the coaches do anything different from normalroutine in the preparation for the game?
No... other than telling us over and over again that theyweren't doing anything different for this game.
Did anything unusual or out of the ordinary happenduring the game or during Vanier week?
Plenty of great memories were made during the week and duringthe game. I remember before the game we were a bit out of ourelement. We were about to play in front of a crowd like most of ushadn't seen, in a stadium most of us hadn't stepped foot in beforethat week. A lot of our anxiety attributes came out right beforethe game. Some of us got angry and frustrated, some of us wereeither really focused or scared, and some of us found things to befunnier than they actually were. It could have been a socialexperiment, but when we ran out onto the field it was business asusual.
How did you or the team react to the stadium and thecrowd?
I didn't bother asking anyone about the crowd. During warm-up,not that many people were there. This was something we were veryused to, so it didn't really faze me. But when I ran out onto thefield as our team was announced, the sound wasn't a normal 3,000people screaming; it felt like a rumbling thunderstorm. I felt thecrowd noise in my feet to my stomach. I didn't even bother lookingat the crowd, or try to look for my parents during Oh Canada, whichwas tradition -- my mom always waved at me when our eyes met. Itwas an awesome experience to play in front of a crowd thatsize.
(Note: The crowd of 26,787 ranks as the eighth largest inVanier Cup history. The 2007 Vanier Cup was played at Rogers Centreon the same weekend as the Grey Cup, which featured another teamfrom Winnipeg, the Blue Bombers, against the SaskatchewanRoughriders)
What are your memories of the post-game celebrations onthe field and/or in the dressing room?
After the post-game interviews, I remember running back to thelocker room late to the party. The officiating crew was crowdedaround the door. I spoke to them about the game and I had toapologize to one of the officials for giving him a hard time on acall that was, in my eyes, missed. They were very human at thatmoment and I didn't realize that this was their moment as well.They had asked me if I could bring the Vanier Cup out of the lockerroom and pose for a picture with the trophy. I questioned theircall once again: “You guys want me to go into our locker roomand pull out the trophy from our boys who are feasting on thisbeauty of a thing? That might cost you guys something.” Wemade an exchange, the details of which I will keep to myself ascertain beverages were not allowed in the locker rooms after thegame. Let's just say it was a mutually beneficial agreement! I tooksome pictures for the officiating crew and then it was off to theparty in the locker room.
What are your memories of the trip backhome?
On the flight home, I sat beside my good friend, centre KurtisStolth. We are not allowed to have any beverages on the plane. Weabided by these rules all season long, but because of the situationand the persuasion of our shortest offensive lineman, we felt theneed to have a couple of beers while discussing the highlights ofthe game on the plane. When we landed, we were astonished by themass of Bison supporters cheering us as we came down the escalatorsto our luggage pick-up. It was a great feeling carrying the VanierCup for all to see.
What was the reaction on campus when the teamreturned?
When I arrived on campus the following Monday, I got out of mycar to pay for parking. I was met by a guy I had never met and hesaid, “You play quarterback for the Bisons right? Great gameon Saturday!” I kind of felt like a celebrity at thatparticular moment.
The athletics department did a great job in recognizing thefootball team. There was a lot of pride coming from the studentbody and staff. There was a banner hung in the University Centrefor a long time for all students to see our accomplishment. Thepart I remember most was the return of Matt Henry. He was welcomedback by a large number of supporters and students along with ourentire team, and for the first time he was able to hoist our prizedVanier Cup trophy.
At the time, how did winning the Vanier Cup change youreveryday life?
Our team was given honours from the City of Winnipeg and awardedManitoba’s Order of the Buffalo Hunt, which is one of thehighest honours the province bestows on individuals whodemonstrated outstanding skills in the areas of leadership, serviceand community commitment. I had the honour of travelling withManitoba Premier Gary Doer to the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border toassist him in hoisting the sign that noted the Riders Grey Cupvictory over the Blue Bombers. Mr. Doer had a friendly bet withSaskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. Although our Manitoba Premier waswearing a Rider jersey, he had his national champions behind him.It was an incredible experience to have been part of. I had manyopportunities to meet new people and experience so many things thatI never would have been able to if it were not for the Vaniervictory.
How often to you reminisce about your Vanier Cupwin?
More often than I probably should, but it was a majoraccomplishment in my life. If there is any time in my life where Ineed to feel like a champion, I will wear my Vanier Cup ring as areminder of that accomplishment. Any time I get to see some of theguys from the 2007 team or any of our alumni, we chat briefly abouthow our life is going and it doesn't take long before we startreminiscing about the glory days. And it is very true that theolder we get, the better we were. I thoroughly enjoy chatting withour coaches about the whole process from their perspective and thefact that we weren't the most skilled team that they'd evercoached, we were just the ones that got the job done.
What did you study at Manitoba and what career paths didyou follow after graduation?
I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major inHistory. I have been working in the non-profit sector for fiveyears. I am currently working with the Multiple Sclerosis Societyof Canada, Manitoba Division as the New Business DevelopmentCoordinator.
I enjoy volunteering my time coaching with the Bison footballprogram as the quarterback coach and giving back to the sport andschool that have given me so much. I still feel as proud as ever,standing on the sideline next to our Bison players and my fellowcoaches, some of the smartest men I have ever met in the sport. Ihave made a home and grown deep roots in the province of Manitoba.I have been blessed with a loving and supportive partner and ourbeautiful baby boy, John Beau Makie IV.