By: Justin Boone
It’s tough not to like Marwan Hage when you meet him.
His personality fills a room more than his 6’2, 291-pound body ever could. He’s the All-Star centre, who doubles as a ballroom dancer, and has a perma-smile bigger than the one you’ll find on his cartoon face in the exclusive Hage’s Heroes section of Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Those seats are for the minor football team that Marwan hosts every home contest, giving the kids, who may not have had an opportunity to experience gameday, the chance to meet Ticats players and take in the game.
Prior to training camp, Marwan was able to expand on the community program that bares his name, thanks to help of his sponsors Echo Freight, Centre 68, Great Lakes Feeder Lines, and Reebok. Which is why this Saturday, when his teammates go home after practice to spend the night with their families and relax before their train trip to face Montreal, Marwan will be busy making deliveries.
He’s not Santa Claus, although the suit might fit. What he is, is the Tiger-Cats nominee for the Tom Pate Award this season, given to a player who best displays sportsmanship and dedication to the league and the community. In his fifth year in Hamilton, Marwan has taken an active role in giving back the to the city that has embraced him and cheered him on to becoming one of the top centres in the CFL.
So Saturday afternoon, he will climb into a semi-truck and drive down the QEW to Mariposa Meats in Mississauga, owned by Argos defensive tackle Adriano Belli. The two friends battle it out on the field, but are lining up together this weekend to help make the holiday more enjoyable for familes in TigerTown.
Marwan will load up the truck with 1,000 hams, which Belli has provided to Hage’s Heroes at a reduced cost, and drive back to Hamilton to distribute them along with 1,000 food boxes, provided by Feed The Children Canada, to underprivileged families at five different locations in Hamilton. The food boxes include items like pasta, bread, crackers, juice, peanut butter, cookies and more. The essentials with some treats mixed in.
On Sunday Marwan will leave for Montreal, the city where he spent his youth, and the site of the team’s Thanksgiving Day showdown against the first place Alouettes. Montreal was his first home in Canada and the place where many of his family and friends still reside.
When the final whistle blows, Marwan will be able to join his loved ones for a proper Thanksgiving meal, knowing that 1,000 families back in Hamilton will be doing the same.
