1 week Ago By Paul Friesen
VANCOUVER – The pain from a fractured arm that cost him eight games early this season has long since disappeared for Kenny Lawler. But a far deeper hurt brought the Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver to tears at BC Place on Friday. The question that triggered it: what had he sacrificed to be able to stand in that end zone two days before playing in the Grey Cup? “Man, don’t make me cry,” Lawler said, turning away in a futile attempt to compose himself.
A full minute later, the 30-year-old was finally able to get it out. After missing eight games with that broken arm, he returned to the lineup only to have his family hit with one tragedy after another. “I lost my uncle,” Lawler managed.
“I lost my aunt. My step-sister. All within the season.
Within about three months of each other. Not being able to go see family, obviously in-season, it’s always the hardest thing.” We often hear about the sacrifices players make to reach the pinnacle of this profession.
It’s not just their bodies they put on the line. “You sacrifice a lot of family time,” Lawler said. “We all struggle with that.
The time that we have in the facility and after hours with the guys...
my son hates it when I leave the house. So it’s hard, man. It’s hard.
” Kenneth James Lawler II is seven years old. Along with Lawler’s wife, Myannah, he’s also the light of his dad’s day when the Bombers star finally does have some down time back in Winnipeg. “Not every American up here gets that,” Lawler said.
All-star defensive back Deatrick Nichols is one who doesn’t. His wife and two kids, a six-year-old daughter and a son who just turned one, were with him in Winnipeg until school began in Florida. “Mid-September they left,” Nichols said.
“I missed my son’s birthday, my daughter’s first day of first grade. That’s part of the sacrifice. You don’t let that get too far up your head.
As long as you’re missing time for something positive, it’s a trade. You’re working, you’re providing.” Same with Stanley Bryant and his son, who turned six in October.
Bryant got lucky for the birthday, at least: the Bombers had a bye week and he could make it home. The all-star offensive lineman wasn’t so lucky for Qynton Bryant’s first day of Grade 1. “It hurt a lot,” Bryant said.
“Growing up, you think about having kids. But you never think when you have a kid you’ll miss stuff like that.” Kicker Sergio Castillo’s son, who’ll be four in January, is back home with Castillo’s wife in Texas, where she teaches school.
“Once August hits, it’s tough,” Castillo said. “I get to see him once every four or five weeks. He’s starting to understand now, starting to ask questions, ‘Why isn’t dad here?’” Castillo grew up without a father in his life.
He planned to do better. “My biggest dream was to have a family,” he said. “This is a beautiful game, but there’s going to be a point where I can’t be away.
So I’m embracing all these moments that I can with the boys, being here.” For a lineman like Pat Neufeld, whose daughter is 13 months old, emotional sacrifice is compounded by the physical one. “It’s a loaded question,” Neufeld said.
“Guys with families ...
you sacrifice little things like maybe going for a walk in the park. You’re laying down, instead, and you feel like a dead-beat dad a bit. But my family knows how important this is and what it takes at this age and this point in my career.
” Neufeld is 35. Been throwing his body into CFL opponents for 12 years. “You’re waking up and you’re sore and your back’s stiff and your knees hurt and your neck’s sore and you can’t move your hands until 10 o’clock in the morning,” he said.
“There is a lot you’ve gone through physically, mentally and emotionally, spiritually. “But if it leads to this moment, it was all worth it.” To a man, players credit their strong partners for letting them chase this football dream.
They also know what they’re missing. “It’s time,” Neufeld said. “And you never get time back.
” Personal sacrifice, of course, isn’t reserved for the Bombers. Toronto running back Ka’Deem Carey is away from his wife and four kids much of the season. “As these years go by, you see them get older, you see them get smarter .
.. you just miss ’em,” Carey said.
Going down to Arizona to see them during a bye week almost makes it worse. “Crying for that last two days and then getting back and feeling that hole for another two days ..
. it’s so crazy,” Carey said. “My daughter, she kills me every time.
I don’t tell her when I’m gonna leave, I don’t give her the countdown, because she goes, ‘Daddy, why do you have to leave?’” Is it worth it? Carey says if he has to struggle with that question, he’s in the wrong line of work. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t close to tears himself, just talking about it. “I got emotional right now.
And then it all comes out when the lights come on on game day.” Most of the people closest to them will be here, resulting in players digging deeper than they knew they could, finding wells of motivation they didn’t know were there. “Whew, it can get emotional,” Neufeld said, just thinking about it.
“I try to keep those emotions in check.” Then it’s best not to look in the stands. At least, until it’s over.
“They know they’re my motivation,” Lawler said. “When I step on this field and do what I do.” paul.
[email protected] X: @friesensunmedia.
