Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
You know it’s going to be an uneasy and awkward feeling for Scott Schultz when he turns on the television to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders visit the B.C. Lions Friday night.
Through his eight and a half years in the CFL, he never missed a game. This week will be the first.
By now you know the veteran defensive tackle shocked the CFL with his sudden retirement on Tuesday. It was just three days after helping the Green & White to a miraculous win in Calgary in Week 5.
The truth? The Moose Jaw product loves making insurance deals as much as he loves sacking quarterbacks. So when the opportunity knocked to make a life-changing decision last week, Schultzie answered the door.
His hastily-called news conference at the Rider business office was a tear-filled affair. Not just for the 320-pound defensive lineman, but also for the many in attendance and thousands more listening province-wide as two radio stations carried the presser live.
A few weeks ago, Leader-Post columnist Rob Vanstone wrote a blog about “what the Riders are really like”. It was interesting reading about how some players and coaches are much different people away from the cameras and notepads.
However as Scott said in his address, “what you see with me is what you get”.
And what is that exactly? Well on the field he’s an intense warrior. From the day he arrived as a fresh-faced rookie, he had command of the Rider locker room. On the field, he was a gladiator. Countless are the images of him being ripped out of fights, steam rising from his body and his face twisted in a snarl as his helmet rolled several yards downfield.
His sack dances were legendary, but he finally settled on ‘The Moose Jaw Stomp’ which was a cross between an Irish jig and a country line dance.
The exploits away from the field were just as storied, yet much more closely-guarded. Nothing illegal mind you, but not for the faint of heart.
His teammates still laugh at the incident in 2003 before a frigid playoff game in Winnipeg. Like a kid with a new toy, he tried on his full body underwear suit from Reebok – complete with balaclava – in his hotel room the night before the game.
On a dare from his roommate, he rode the elevator down to the lobby in the outfit, bought a chocolate bar in the gift shop, and strolled back to his room before dozens of shocked hotel patrons.
As big a part of him, if not more, is his family. On a recent flight to Toronto, he talked the entire three hours of the trip showing off funny videos of his two young children off of his phone.
Always smiling, he touched thousands of lives with his youth football camp and endless string of community appearances from border to border.
Is he struggling with his decision to retire mid-season and take over a multi-million dollar insurance agency in north Regina?
Yes and no. He knows the timing isn’t great. Was his impact on the field declining? That’s for others to answer. But he started all five games in 2009 and he wouldn’t be there if the coaches felt he couldn’t do the job.
His business partner needed someone to run the agency on a full-time basis and Schultz has the skills to do the job. And he’s excited about it.
He gets the same fire in his eyes when he talks about selling hail insurance to farmers as he does discussing the “fat and sassy pigs” on the B.C. offensive line.
That may be the most infamous of a long list of jaw-dropping quotes he’s made over the years.
Good luck Schultzie.
And enjoy the game.
