Kelly Bates
CFL.ca
As a professional football player our schedule is set in stone for six months of the year.
A common response to that statement would run along the lines of, ‘so what, that is how most jobs work.’
My counter point to that would be the following; while everyone works within a schedule, flexibility within our schedule does not exist. We either show up on time ready to go, or our team moves on without us, most times regardless of relative circumstances.
To illustrate my point I will talk about Darian Durant’s bout with Salmonella poisoning. He first reported his illness going into Week 6 of our schedule. However the original illness was dated back to Week 2.
That means he fought through a rather serious illness for four weeks before he decided that he had better have medical authorities take a closer look. In that time frame he did not miss one practice or meeting.
Some would argue that this was irresponsible healthwise; others would argue that he was just doing what football players do, being tough and stubborn and fighting through the illness.
Arguments can be made for both sides of the coin however, I would add a third reason that consists of a combination of one and two, but also adds a harsh reality that professional football players deal with everyday in the CFL.
No matter what your role on a team may be, you risk losing that role unless you are physically there to carry it out. We’ve all heard the old adage that no player should lose his job beacause of injury. Well that adage is just that, old.
The term may be used for convenience from time to time but it certainly does not apply in today’s professional sporting world. The bottom line is that, regardless of injury or illness or any number of circumstances, if we are not at our workplace ready to do our job there is always someone else right behind us waiting for the oppportunity to do it for us.
I am not suggesting that Darian would’ve lost his job if he were to miss time due to his illness. That obvioulsy does not apply in this case nor is it the point of this blog. I am simply using this cirumstance to explain my thought process.
What I am stating is that almost every professional football player in the CFL has that little voice in the back of his mind that tells him he can’t miss a snap of playing time because we know there is always someone else who will take that snap and run with it given the opportunity.
The truth is that this is how a large number of players get their opportunity. As a result we will work through just about anything to make sure we are where we need to be, when we need to be at all times. So, within this frame of circumstance you may call us stubborn, tough, or dumb for doing what we do.
However the descriptor of ‘perception of possible job loss’ should be added as a key motivator in all that we do. That’s what I mean when I say our schedule is set in stone.
