By Arash Madani,
The Score
REGINA -– Just over nine minutes remained in a game that was over. Many at Mosaic Stadium had filed out of the park, eager for the first playoff game in Regina since 1988. The Argos, for all intents and purposes, had clinched the East Division crown on their final game of the season. Home field wrapped up, bye in the bag, all earned with the 31-13 lead late in the fourth.
But with one snap, everything changed.
On a passing play -– an 11-yard completion to Obed Cetoute –- one offensive lineman, Chad Folk, fell into another, and Toronto offensive tackle Mike Pearson crumbled to the turf, his ankle shattered, season finished. An eerie silence hovered over Taylor Field, where the medical staff and players from both teams lurked over the starting left tackle, who eventually was carted off onto an ambulance, immediately changing the dynamic of the Argonauts offence going into the playoffs.
Greg Mohns’ cell phone lit up with Pearson’s wife, Melissa, calling for an update. Media in the press box winced in unison at the replay on the television, and teammates huddled around their fallen CFL rookie, a former second round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With one snap, the anchor of Toronto’s offensive line, which has protected Michael Bishop exceptionally well since his return, lay there, year finished, “and all you hope,” said fellow hog Taylor Robertson, “is that he is going to be okay.”
“That his career isn’t finished,” added right tackle Glenn January, who took over Pearson’s spot.
Injuries are common in football. Happen all the time. Part of the game. Ask the Edmonton Eskimos about guys going down. They lost their quarterback, their guys up front, receivers and a ton of defensive players.
But Saturday’s injury to Pearson was different. First, there was the wait –- a 15-minute stoppage of the game. Then, how the massive 6-7, 290-pounder was shipped off the field: on a stretcher, into an ambulance, with his teammates trying to re-group to play the final moments of the game.
“You know, when we got back to playing, none of us said a word,” said Robertson. “We just got back to the line and did our thing.”
“What could be said?” wondered January aloud. “The guy you battle with was just taken off like that. It’s just so tough and you just wish the best for him.
“The toughest part is that he worked so hard to get back into the line-up,” added January, alluding to a knee problem and bad finger infection that had him on the nine-game injured list early in the season. “And then this happens… Wow, I mean, that’s just… that’s really tough.”
Luckily, Pearson was upright and could pass on a message through the CBC telecast to loved ones to let them know he was okay.
The same was not the case for Brandon Guillory of the Eskimos. The second-year defensive lineman temporarily lost feeling in his legs when he suffered a spinal cord injury in an Edmonton pre-season affair against Calgary. It was probably the most terrifying moment of the season and reminded us just how vicious this game of football is. Guillory regained sensation in his extremities, was diagnosed with a spinal cord contusion, missed the year and had surgery last week.
When the shock of Guillory’s injury wore off, the Eskimos had to go find a replacement -– and neither of the three they brought in really could.
Now Toronto has gone to a familiar face to step in for Pearson for their playoff run. Jerome Davis, who was with the club in 2005 and 2006, was re-signed after spending the majority of the season with Hamilton.
“Life will go on, that’s how football works,” said Bishop. “When (Pearson) went down, all I could think about was my (wrist) injury (suffered earlier in the year) and having to come back from it. We all want him to be okay, but we move forward and he’ll be in our thoughts in the playoffs.”
“You just feel for the guy,” said Robertson, of Pearson. “You just hope he will be able to come back. And that this isn’t the end.”
Arash Madani is the Calgary bureau reporter with The Score.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
