Jim Mullin
CFL.ca
“Coming off a season ruined by injury, Simon Blaszczak unfortunately didn’t approach the kind of performance he required to re-establish himself as a top receiving prospect.”– Duane Forde, tsn.ca
Manitoba receiver Simon Blaszczak has overcome odds far larger than poor test scores at a football camp. When one looks at the life Blaszczak, you have to assume he’ll find a way to get through that barrier if provided with the opportunity.
“I set my goals high when I went to E-Camp, but I didn’t do quite as well as I hoped to,” Blaszczak said.
“I arrived at camp with the flu that I picked up from my son at home, so it was a bit of a battle. But considering that, I thought I tested okay.”
The fact that he is a family man says a lot when you consider Blaszczak’s less-than-coddled background growing up in Winnipeg’s North End.
His mother was not present in his life and he was raised by his father, who also disappeared from the scene when Blaszczak was 16. While attending his final two years at St. John’s Secondary, out of necessity, Blaszczak became a couch surfer. Friends and coaches provided him with shelter as he cycled from home to home.
“It wasn’t always hunky-dory, y’know,” he says in an unmistakable Manitoban accent.
“There’s times when for certain reasons, my dad wouldn’t be around. I moved in with one of my best friends when I was 16 years old. I remember times when I didn’t know where my next meal would come from.”
Somehow, he balanced part-time work, school, athletics, while having no fixed address.
“I moved out of my friend’s house, and moved into another place where I got stabbed in the back, so I moved out from there and moved from place to place. But I always had a job.
“My high school coaches kept me focused on the game when I had all the off field things pulling me in different directions. The showed me the love of football and the passion in the game, and I credit them with keeping in the game.”
Upon graduation from High School, Blaszczak refocused his efforts on football. He joined the Winnipeg Rifles of the Prairie Junior Football Conference. For part of his first camp, he lived in a home built by General Motors.
“I was driving a Cavalier wagon back then. For a few weeks while I was playing junior football, I parked the car in a lot and was eating and sleeping out of the wagon.”
After a productive career in junior, Blaszczak moved on to the Manitoba Bisons of the Canada West.
Bisons’ Head Coach Brian Dobie is infamous in CIS circles for assembling a team of individuals who ride into camp looking for second chances. Blaszczak set a new standard for a kid looking for opportunity through the game.
“Mike Watson, who was coaching Simon in junior at the time told me about his story, where Simon lived out of his car. Mike eventually took him in for awhile, but Simon was basically on his own and I discovered his story was a tough one and it was really sad,” Dobie recalled.
“Simon never went to anyone asking for help. And when he did get offered help, he never complained. So often in this society, especially with athletes, there’s a lot of, ‘poor me’. You never get that with Simon,” he said.
Even through university Blaszczak has had to walk a tightrope-like balancing act in life. He works security for the Manitoba government in housing projects in Winnipeg’s North End, majors in native studies and is dedicated to his fiancé, Buffy and his two children.
“It takes its toll at the end of the day,” Blaszczak said.
“But when I come home, my two kids actually give me a second wind. I basically just try to find time to sleep every now and then. Behind every great person there’s a better woman, a great partner who helps out. I have that as well.”
His commitment to the game was reinforced by his future spouse.
“It’s critical to have her in my life, to keep me focused. I’ve been fortunate to have some great co
aches that have taken that extra step and crucial support from family members like Buffy to keep me in the game.”
Support from his partner came in the form of an ultimatum.
“One of the first things that she said when I was contemplating going university was that ‘if [you] didn’t follow your dream and play football, I’m going to leave you’. She’s been supportive and kept me focused.”
Dobie’s respect for the way Blaszczak lives his life runs deep.
“His sense of accountability and responsibility is unbelievable. He loves his kids; he loves his family, his teammates and coaches. And above all, he never, ever complains or points fingers,” Dobie said.
Through all of this trial, there is also Blaszczak the football player.
The most rewarding season was 2007, when he won a CIS national championship with Manitoba.
At 6’5″, 229 lbs. he makes a convincing target when healthy, although he has missed at least half a season in each of the past two years.
One knock many player personnel directors have with Blaszczak is his lack of special teams play at the university level.
“I definitely consider myself a special teams guy. That’s how I made my living in junior. In Manitoba I had an ankle injury here, another injury there, so they restricted me to first team offense,” Blaszczak said.
When it comes to making a great catch or making a great hit, there’s no indecision from the full-time receiver.
“There’s nothing like laying the wood, man. It makes you feel great and your team thrives off that.”
Even though Blaszczak is a self made man, he still considers himself fortunate that the game of football discovered him. It has allowed him to attend school and prepare for a life after football, which will likely feature social work in Winnipeg’s challenging North End.
“I was fortunate for things to work out the way they have so far. If things continue to work, I’ll be able to do a job where I’ll be able to give back to my community. But without football, who knows where I would have ended up. I probably would have been working on the railroad by now.”
Jim Mullin is the Sports Director at CKNW 980 in Vancouver. He is the play-by-play voice of Canada West Football on SHAW TV. In 2009, he will broadcast his 13th season of university football on the coast. He is also the founder of the University Football Reporters of Canada.
