Durant, Jones would prefer not to be mic’d like the Ti-cats and Stamps

Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell made it clear he wasn’t a fan of the CFL’s live mic broadcast last weekend.

Mitchell told Post Media reporter Scott Fisher he felt the broadcasts gave away too much, and that the team will need to rejig some of its terminology because of it. 

Darian Durant can understand where Mitchell was coming from.

“Sometimes the same terminology that you use in the huddle is some of your no huddle stuff that you yell out,” Durant explained.

“I think it could give other teams advantages in that perspective,” he added.

Defensive lineman Jonathan Newsome said there were definitely benefits to be found when you watch a live mic broadcast. In the NFL, where the practice was more common, Newsome said they would often bring in the tape from those games to see what could be learned.

“We could hear their snap counts and their adjustments and their audibles,” he said. “You can hear all that stuff and then we can play off all that when we hear it in a game.”

Despite this, Newsome would be happy to wear a live mic himself, as long as TSN had the bleeper ready.

“I think it would bring out a lot of character in (me), but it depends on if we can sensor everything,” he laughed.

On the other hand, neither Durant nor Head Coach Chris Jones would want to wear one.

 “I’m just not that kind of guy that wants to be on the microphone or front and center,” Jones said, though he didn’t think other teams would be able to get much from being able to hear him during a live game.

Durant said he knows that the decision was about giving the fans a different perspective of the game, which is something they crave, but he felt that other teams shouldn’t be able to get vital information just from watching a game on television. He did, however, acknowledge if the league asked him to, he likely would have to wear the mic anyway.

“I don’t want to, but at the end of the day the league is my ball so … I don’t know if (Mitchell) had the option to wear it or not, but it’s just not something that I’m a fan of,” he said.

So far at least, Durant is in the clear. The league has not announced any additional live mic broadcasts.