Ninety percent of North America probably wasn't even aware it happened. ESPN just gave it a brief mention on NFL Prime Time, and many couldn’t even see the game on their cable package.

The greatest football game ever played was Sunday’s Canadian Football League championship game, the Grey Cup.

The Grey Cup is the Canadian version of the Super Bowl. Instituted in 1909, long before the Super Bowl or the NFL even existed, the Grey Cup has been the trophy to signify football supremacy north of the 49th parallel. The Cup, donated by Lord Earl Grey, is the second oldest North American professional championship trophy, younger than only the Stanley Cup.

The 2005 edition of the Grey Cup featured the Western Division champion Edmonton Eskimos and the Eastern representatives, the Montreal Alouettes. These two clubs have a long-running rivalry having met in the Grey Cup game 10 times since 1954, including three of the past four seasons. Going in to Sunday’s game, the Eskimos have captured the Cup 12 times and the Alouettes have had their names engraved on the trophy five times.

The storylines for the 2005 edition of the Canadian classic were many. Former New York Jets’ third-stringer Ricky Ray was struggling as the Eskimos QB late in the season and was named a very controversial starter over "relief man" Jason Maas. The Eskimos also featured a rookie head coach in 39-year-old Danny Maciocia -- a former Montreal assistant.

Montreal was not expected to be in Vancouver for the championship, as they faced the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Final. The Montreal defense was effective in shutting down the league’s Most Outstanding Player Damon Allen (brother of Marcus Allen) and star QB Anthony Calvillo was excellent in that victory.

So, the long-time rivals were set to meet for the championship once again.

The game started off slow and methodical with the Edmonton defense playing very well, while their offense was content to pick up yardage on short passes and the ground game. By the half, the Eskimos led 10-1 on Ricky Ray’s first touchdown pass in eight weeks to star receiver Ed Hervey.

The second half began with Calvillo leading a Montreal touchdown drive to narrow the Edmonton lead to 10-8. Montreal grabbed the momentum and dominated the third quarter, taking an 18-13 lead on a David Duval field goal with just over a minute to play.

On the ensuing kickoff, Eskimo kick-returner Tony Tompkins, made CFL history with a 96-yard touchdown return, injecting some life into the fading Western Division champs. But then, Calvillo then led the Alouettes on another impressive TD-drive early in the fourth quarter to put them up 25-20.

Things were tense; this was becoming a CFL classic.

With time winding down and a third and four from midfield staring Ricky Ray in the face, he had the opportunity to step up and show he was the right choice to start this game. Ray, who had thrown nothing but short, safe passes all game long, hit Derrell Mitchell with a beautiful 35-yard strike to the Alouette 15-yard line. A couple of plays later, Ray dove in from the one, followed by a successful two-point conversion, and the Esks had a three-point lead with 1:03 left on the clock.

Calvillo, one of the greatest quarterbacks the league has ever seen, then marched his club down field and went for the win with a bullet throw towards the end zone. One Eskimo defender nearly intercepted it and the ball bounced in the direction of another Eskimo. The ball deflected off his fingertips and fell harmlessly to the turf. An interception would have ensured victory for Edmonton, but now the Montreal still had a chance. They played it safe, bringing in Damon Duval for the game-tying field goal.

For the first time since 1961, the Grey Cup would go to overtime.

In the CFL, they use the very exciting "shootout" overtime format. Each team scrimmages first and 10 from the opponents 35-yard line and attempts to score. If one team scores and the other does not, then the one that scored is the winner. If both teams score the same number of points during their turn, they do it all again.

Edmonton won the coin toss so Montreal was forced to go first. Calvillo wasted little time, hitting Dave Stala with a 30-yard TD pass on the second play giving Montreal a 35-28 lead.

Eskimo fans were understandably tense. Coming in to the Grey Cup game, Ray had not thrown a touchdown pass in his previous seven games. He finally broke the string in the second quarter of the Grey Cup and he engineered an impressive fourth quarter drive to put the Esks ahead. Could he do it one more time?

Ray came out and fired a strike to the Montreal 11-yard line. On the very next play, Ray threw a beautiful rainbow into the end zone to former Dallas Cowboy, Jason Tucker. Tucker made a clutch, over the shoulder grab for the touchdown to tie the game and send it to a second overtime.

This time, the Eskimos were first up. The Montreal defense was strong, not giving an inch, forcing Edmonton to bring in Sean Fleming for a field goal attempt. Fleming, who had been rock-solid throughout the entire playoffs, nailed a 36-yarder to give the Eskimos a 38-35 lead.

Now, Montreal was up.

The Alouettes got nowhere on first down, so it was second down and 10. Then the most bizarre play of the afternoon took place. Calvillo dropped back to pass, which was blocked by an Edmonton lineman. The ball bounced right back into Calvillo’s arms, so he then threw the ball to the end zone where Kerry Watkins found himself wide open. Having no defender within 20 yards shockingly, Watkins dropped the ball. Of course, CFL rules state that there cannot be two forward passes on the same play, so even if Watkins had made the catch, the play would have been called back on the penalty.

So it was now, second down and 20 from the 45.

To keep things alive, Montreal needed a field goal. Calvillo dropped back to pass and the Edmonton defensive line brought the heat. Calvillo scrambled, but the rush was too much and he was dropped for an 11-yard loss.

The Als, now at their own 54, were faced with attempting a 63-yard field goal to tie the game, or using their third down to gain the 31 yards necessary to keep their hopes alive. They chose the latter.

Calvillo dropped back in the pocket and the pocket collapsed. Calvillo scrambled looking anxiously downfield for an open receiver, but found none. So, Calvillo ran and picked up only a couple before he was brought down.

Finally, this glorious Grey Cup game had come to an end with the Edmonton Eskimos capturing their 13th title by a score of 38-35. Ray, who was taking a beating from Eskimo fans over the past eight weeks, was named Grey Cup MVP.

Never had a championship game featured so much excitement and so many dramatic turns of events so late in the game. Many fans had screamed themselves hoarse long before overtime began.

The 59,157 in attendance at BC Place Stadium and the several million others across Canada and around the world had the privilege of watching a classic. A quick sampling of the Canadian media has the 2005 Grey Cup being the consensus pick as the greatest football game ever played.

Being one of the 59,157 at the game, I couldn’t agree more.