Ottawa Redblacks aware of East title's meaning to fans

In Edmonton, players went into the stands to celebrate finishing in first place two weeks ago. In Ottawa, players had the fans come right to them, in polite, may-we-get-a-picture-please fashion.

Seldom will one see Fan Appreciation Day actually mean as much as it did Saturday night when the Redblacks won 44-28 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, marking the first time in 37 autumns that an Ottawa CFL team has won the East Division. It was a kaleidoscope of people, the eyes unable to focus while searching for vignettes from a football Saturday that the nation's capital hasn't seen since almost two score and two defunct franchises ago.

Wide receiver Chris Williams led five children out to the field for a group shot. As soon as he was done a radio interview, Henry Burris had a receiving line of people waiting for selfies. Talk of whether they will face the Ticats or Toronto Argonauts in the East final on Nov. 22 had to be tabled.

"I felt like I was Angus Young from AC/DC and they had actually let the fans come on stage," said Burris, who had six touchdown passes and finished with a CFL single-season record for completions. "It was a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, fans saying they cannot wait for the East final in two weeks. Just to be out there with the guys and the fans, we're thankful for that. This is not something you can experience every year in football, to be part of building something and turning it around.

"To see things formulating and progressing to this point now, it's really a special moment," the 40-year-old quarterback said. "To be a part of Ottawa history, to be part of bringing in a great product, one that's been successful. When we were out there signing things and giving our jerseys off the back, fans were talking about how they've been coming to this park for more than 40 years to see a winner. To see these fans as elated as they are, I'm speechless. I'm just taken away by what this has meant to this community. To experience this today firsthand was something I'll never forget."

Spectator sports can be a hard sell in Ottawa by times and the city earned the title of Canada's worst sports town after the Renegades folded in 2006, becoming the second CFL team in a decade to die. In truth, both times it was a failure of ownership(s) and a failure to have any sizzle off the field, with Lansdowne Park in decay. The CFL's business model wasn't actually Wharton-worthy in those years, either. Thus began a vicious cycle of Ottawa teams that were, failingly, undercoached and undermanned.

Pro football players might just be passing through a city for a spell, and they stay in their bubble of meetings, films, practice, workouts. The symbolism of a first-place finish has broken through that bubble for all of the Redblacks who weren't alive when the city last hosted an Eastern final in '78 or last played for a Grey Cup in 1981, which is everyone except Burris, of course.

"Thursday after practice I was walking back from Whole Foods [supermarket] and [Redblacks president and co-owner] Jeff Hunt was walking too," said wide receiver Greg Ellingson. "I said, 'Are you excited about the game?' He said, 'I haven't seen a playoff game — I moved to Ottawa in 1984.

"You step back and realize how big this is not only for the players, but the organization, the owners and the city," Ellingson added.

The  ready-made rabid fanbase never went away. Its seed merely lay dormant while the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, fronted by Hunt, made sure it could properly germanite. It was like R-Nation was just annexed for a generation. 

"I love playing here because the fans remind me of college," said Redblacks middle linebacker Damaso Munoz, who Hoovered up two fumbles by Ticats QB Jeremiah Masoli on Saturday.

"I love the R-Nation. I love playing in Ottawa."

While the first-time-since-whens keep coming, the Redblacks have to keep focused on taking care of business. This was also the first 12-win season in the city's history, since the original Riders' good times came long before the CFL went to an 18-game season.

"I fully respect and appreciate the history of football here," Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said. "The fans have stuck through a couple of franchises. The thing we need to do as a team is focus on one week at a time. If you get caught up in the big-picture, now is not the time to get caught up in that. Our job is to work on playing good football."

Either way, the result is a short-term vindication for a team that went 2-16 in 2014.

"When you start a new team, you're going to take some shots from some people when you things don't go well," Campbell said. "We were hopeful coming out of last year even though the win total said otherwise. We had a good core group. We're proud but not satisfied."

Ottawa is 7-2 at home, with the losses coming to the Argonauts on Sept. 26 and to West Division-winning Edmonton in a downpour back in mid-July. Hosting the Eastern final might have seemed pipe-dreamy at the outset of the season, but now it's happening.

"We have the best fans in this league," left tackle SirVincent Rogers said. "To play a home playoff game here, it's going to be bananas, We can roll in with confidence and play our game."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.