HAMILTON — Ted Goveia’s passion for his childhood team was evident as the lifelong football man was sworn in as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' new general manager on Friday.
“When I was a kid, the minimum wage was $2.85,” Goveia, from nearby from Burlington, Ont., said at his introductory press conference inside the Ticats' locker room at Tim Hortons Field. “I saved my money to come to as many games as I could.
“I’m an old lineman and I could name the starting O-line for a decade. My whole childhood was spent at the ballpark. This is real important to me.”
As the news filtered out this week that Goveia was returning home to run the Ticats after 11 years in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers front office, he dropped by the ticket office to discover two former teammates from different teams in his playing days had purchased season tickets.
“I understand the passion here,” Goveia said. “I got a lot of messages. I’m trying to answer them all. I'm just overwhelmed with it. But people are telling what seats they're sitting in.”
After the Blue Bombers concluded their fifth straight Grey Cup appearance three weeks ago, Ticats president of football operations Orlondo Steinauer began his GM search.
“Ted, his passion really shone through,” Steinauer said. “It wasn't just what he was going to bring to the field. He has a true passion for the community. He really understood the pride and tradition of being in Hamilton and Tiger-Cat football.”
Goveia is well aware the Ticats have not won a Grey Cup since 1999, the longest championship drought in team history, and ended a streak of five straight playoff appearances in 2024 with a 7-11 season.
He has kept a home in Burlington and he’s been a staple in the Tim Hortons Field press box in his assistant GM position with Winnipeg.
“I’m not numb to the situation here,” Goveia said. “I think it was this year I looked up and saw 1999 as the last banner.”
His first order of business is to talk with the team’s 34-year-old incumbent quarterback, Bo Levi Mitchell. Goveia wants to stick with Mitchell because of the progress the two-time Grey Cup champion exhibited under head coach Scott Milanovich in 2024.
Goveia returns to Hamilton as a three-time Grey Cup champion. He won two with Winnipeg and then lost three in a row. He was the running backs coach with the championship 2012 Toronto Argonauts. Milanovich was the head coach of that team and Steinauer kept a watchful eye on the defensive backs.
Goveia detailed his path as a youth player in the Burlington Minor Football Association to Winnipeg. He thanked everyone from his high school coach Mike Harris at Burlington Assumption to his supportive parents.
They were football fans, even though his mom was from Trinidad and his dad hailed from the former South American country British Guiana.
“We always had Grey Cup parties,” Goveia said. “Even when I coached the Argonauts my mom would call me before games and (recite the Ticats cheer) 'Oskee Wee Wee.' My dad was an Argos fan.”
After his playing career ended at Mount Allison University, he joined the school’s coaching staff and helped them win the 1997 Jewett Cup. He returned home, spending four years at Hamilton’s McMaster University, winning 33 consecutive games and three straight Yates Cup titles.
He then joined the University of British Columbia as its offensive co-ordinator and was promoted to its head coach in 2006 before embarking on his CFL career.
Goveia remarked it was difficult to leave Winnipeg after his time there. But he learned the importance of sticking to a plan after a slow start there.
“I feel a tremendous responsibility,” he said. “To bring that Grey Cup back into the tailgate lot would be something. Most of my buddies are season ticket holders. I walk right by them on the way to the game. I just take off my (Winnipeg) colours afterwards so I can have a burger with them.
“The goal is to win the last game.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024.
Tim Wharnsby, The Canadian Press
