Life as a Rookie (Week2) Part 4 of 23

Week 2 Cgy @ Edm. Day 1 I came in and checked the board and guess what? The big One niner was on it. I blinked twice adjusting my eyes again. No it wasn’t an error. Backing up several positions on special teams I was happy. My brain was in overdrive trying to keep up with the vast amount of information I had to absorb. Not only on teams but the defense as well. Unsure of what position I was assigned to, I learned the 3 I took reps at in training camp Sam, FS & CB. Learning the positions along with studying the opponents plays was a fair amount to process. You don’t want get thrown in there and not know anything. So I tried to prepare myself as best as possible. I still hadn't taken a snap in the Defense since early training camp. It’s difficult to remember plays you’ve never tried. Trying to visualize the plays in my head and imagine what I would be seeing from that stand point is hard when you don't have a base picture in your mind. That aside, I won my first 1 on 1 in a while, which was a good start. Playing on the wide side of the field now I was facing routes of which I was not normally accustomed. The Wide and Short side, also referred to as Strong and Weak side, are two completely different worlds to me. Having played on the weak side during my 4 years of college I was unfamiliar with the wide side routes. The pace was faster too but every time I got beat I took a mental note of how the route looked. Everything was still happening so fast in front of my eyes.

Game Day. I walked into the locker room and hanging ever so nicely was the beautiful green jersey. Name OKPRO on the back, it was the first ever professional game I dressed for. With a slight grin, I got ready to play. Not sure of the pre-game warm up’s I followed the DB’s out last. The team huddled in the end zone. J.Y assessed my attire and was about to give me the nod of approval, when he noticed my bright maroon Concordia gloves. He gave me the look and pointed back to the locker. I put my head down knowingly and proceeded back. I told Mr. Dwayne the equipment manager and he laughed with that "rookie" look all over his eyes, and handed me a pair of pearly whites. On a normal basis I would never go out there like that, but I was refused gloves in training camp, so I was hesitant to ask again. Wide-eyed, I followed through the routines witnessing everything for the first time.

There is something special about Commonwealth game day that you can just feel in the air. Even still without knowing too much about the history I could feel it. This was my first CFL game live! I had never been so close before and I didn’t want to miss any of it. Yelling at the top of my lungs with my war paint on my face I wanted the win. There’s nothing fun about losing period. If I wasn’t going to play I was going be a part of the game somehow. Football is a game of emotions and I had plenty. Now, engaged in the battle of Alberta the game was getting chippy. A lot of talking was going on, which added to the intensity of the game. Back and forth it went and the Stampeder's scored to take the lead with only 1:51 left. The Eskimos responded as ice veins Ricky Ray engineered the drive. Jay Tuck made the most unbelievable catch I had ever seen at such a clutch moment in time. It was the game winner. At the end of the game I gave Tuck a big hug amazed. What a first game! Still a fan, still a rookie, I didn’t care that I did not play. Esks win 34-31

Notes: We loss L.W. a defensive back, big loss.