Corey Grant
CFL.ca
This is the Thanksgiving Weekend and there is no better time to say thank you to all the people who make the CFL such a great game.
I would first like to thank the wives, fiancés, girlfriends, parents, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all the other family members who support us CFL players. We recognize the sacrifice that each of you makes, which allows us the opportunity to play this great game that we love so much and we say “Thank You”.
I would like to say thank you to the coaches who give us the chance to play football at the professional level. Coaches spend hours every week watching film, setting up game plans, and preparing the team for the up and coming game. They do this while spending hours away from their families and I’d like to say “Thank You”.
Not only do the coaches give us an opportunity, but the owners and GM’s play an important role as well. There are many kids who grow up dreaming about playing professional sports and we get to live out our dream of playing professional football that creates memories for the rest of our lives. Owners and GM’s make these dreams possible and a “Thank You” is in order.
Our teammates also deserve a “Thank You” because each week, month, and year they must make a sacrifice for the team. They are asked to sacrifice their minds, bodies, and time to make themselves and their teammates better. Some players must leave their families for months to spend time with their second family. To be a good teammate you must give more to your teammates than you expect in return and every player in the CFL does this every year. Thank you.
There are many people within the football organization who help make things run like a well-oiled machine. These individuals are rarely seen but deserve just as much credit as anyone else within the organization. These are the people who work in the ticket office, the stadium store, marketing, sales, media, video, and the business department. These individuals warrant a “Thank You” for all their hard work day after day and sometimes night after night. Thank you.
Now the next group of people are the glue that keeps the players fixed and ready to go at all times. The trainers and equipment staff are asked to perform miracles at a moment’s notice and fix the unfixable. The touching of nasty wounds and the constant questions of, “When will I be back?” is asked to the trainer on a daily basis and answers are expected (always sooner than later).
The equipment staffs is asked to wash sweaty clothes and fix broken equipment before the next play starts, which can occur at any moment. These are the jobs that most of the time go unnoticed or are taken for granted by the players, but we say, “Thank You” for a job well done.
Last but not least, I would like to thank the fans around the CFL for your support. You come out on cold winter nights and cheer on your team with sheer enthusiasm as if it were a hot July evening. You sit in the stands during storms and endure games when your team is not performing up to your standards and still cheer as if nothing else matters but supporting your team toward victory. We would like to say, “Thank you for all of your support”.
During this Thanksgiving Weekend remember to take time out to give thanks for all of the great things in your life.
One of the great lessons that I’ve learned this year is that LOVE is spelt T-I-M-E. Take the time this weekend to call or visit someone you haven’t talked to in a long time and let them know that you’re thinking of them.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving Weekend and the CFL games.
Corey Grant is a 10 year CFL veteran who has played with the Ti-Cats, Alouettes and, for the last 7 seasons, the Roughriders. A Stoney Creek, Ont. native, Corey has won Grey Cups in 1999 and 2007. He was named the East Division Outstanding Rookie in 1999.
