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Gig Harbor grad Davis Alexander to play on Canadian football’s biggest stage

The game clock at Hamilton Stadium on Nov. 8 showed 1:41 remaining with the score tied at 16. On the line? A trip to the Grey Cup and the Canadian Football League’s biggest stage.

A vision of divine inspiration appeared right before Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander‘s eyes. It was on the stadium scoreboard, actually: A clip from the movie “300,” which he’d watched the night before. It’s an inspiring little ditty about an army of 300 guys wiping out a gang of thousands.

In the moment, Alexander was one part amused, two parts inspired and three parts calm. Seven plays, two first downs and 37 yards later, Jose Maltos Diaz kicked a final-second, 45-field goal to land the Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup.

“Yeah … that was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen,” Alexander said Monday after arriving in Winnipeg, this year’s Grey Cup host city. “I’d told the guys I was going to watch ‘300’ the night before and there it was on the big screen in the other team’s stadium. I had to laugh. Anything you can use in that moment and use it for your advantage is great.”

Davis Alexander, a former Gig Harbor High star, led a game-winning drive against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Nov. 8 win put the Alouettes in the Grey Cup. Photo courtesy Montreal Alouettes

Injury interrupted Alexander’s ascendance

Alexander, the Gig Harbor High School and Portland State product, will play a prominent role in this Sunday’s Grey Cup, Canada’s most-watched annual television event.

The Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders will kick off at 3 p.m. Nov. 16 from Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg. CBS Sports Network will broadcast the game.

Alexander played a backup role and received a big ol’ championship ring two seasons ago, when the Al’s won the franchise’s ninth Grey Cup title. After playing the 2022-23 seasons as a backup, Alexander moved into the starting role early in the 2024 season and played brilliantly.

This season, he came into camp as the expected starter and guided the Al’s to a 3-0 record before a hamstring injury against Edmonton on June 19 landed him in the training room for 11 games.

The pulled hamstring was a beast.

“That was the first game I’d missed since I started playing football when I was 6,” Alexander said of the injury.

Was there any hesitation? Any fear the injury would be ruinous to a fast-rising pro career?

“Not really. I just couldn’t wait to get back. I was good mentally and I wasn’t afraid,” he said. “But the rehab process did go longer than I would have liked. I expected to be back and there were a couple of setbacks. Then the team went on a bit of a losing spell and that just made me want to get back faster.”

Quirks of Canadian football

Montreal went 4-7 with Alexander sidelined. But since his return under center on Sept. 29, the Al’s have gone 5-1.

With a playoff slot clinched, the team held Alexander out for the one loss, in the regular season finale against Winnipeg. Montreal avenged that in the postseason, defeating Winnipeg 42-33 in the eastern semi-finals.

Then there was last Saturday’s last-minute 19-16 win over Hamilton in the eastern final. In that game, Alexander completed 19 of 26 passes for 210 years with one touchdown and one interception. He led his team in rushing with 65 yards on seven carries.

For two highly-efficient offences, the eastern final was a defencive struggle (And yes … in Canada they spell defence and offence with a ‘C’..as in “Canada!”).

And by the way: An Alouette is a lark. A small, hard-nosed, non-migratory bird that laughs in the face of the Canadian coldfront, movin’ in. What a way to ride, oh what a way to go*. It’s also the nickname for the highly-decorated 425th Squadron of the Canadian Royal Air Force.

Noteworthy — Don’t call the Grey Cup Canada’s Super Bowl. More like the Super Bowl is America’s Grey Cup.

They’ve been playing the Grey Cup game up North for 112 years. If you want to get a chill running up and down your spine over a sports visual, stick around to the end of this Sunday’s game when honest-to-God Mounties — red-clad Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers — ceremonially protect and carry in the actual Grey Cup wearing brilliant red uniforms and white gloves. Have a tissue ready. It’s awesome.

Back to football.

Davis Alexander missed 11 games with injury this season, but his return sparked the Alouettes on the drive to the Grey Cup. Photo courtesy Montreal Alouettes

Davis Alexander, QB1

Things are a little different for Alexander this year compared to two years ago, when he was a backup.

“As soon as I got off the plane tonight, there was media there,” Alexander said on Monday. “Lots of questions and I know I’ll be asked a lot about the hamstring. But it’s a real blessing to be here and I plan to make the most of it.”

What was going through your mind during that final drive?

“In the huddle, the thing I wanted to do was be calm and to make sure this would be the last drive of the game,” said Alexander, who signed an off-season contract extension with Montreal through 2027. “I didn’t want Hamilton to get the ball back with any time left. It was a dream come true to be in that situation and it was the first time in my career where I’ve been in that situation; the final minutes and a chance to drive for a win. It was really a dream come true to move the team down and get the win.”

*A lyric from The Band’s song “Acadian Driftwood.” It’ a Canada thing. You can look it up.