Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
It was a long road back to the field for Matt Kirk.
Lets rewind. It’s Friday October 29, 2010, game number 17 of the Ticats schedule. They’re visiting Calgary and Kirk, the veteran defensive lineman, is enjoying his best season as a pro. Then, with one step in the wrong direction, Kirk’s left foot becomes pinned under one of the Stampeders behemoth offensive lineman’s cleats.
“I got stepped on and my foot was going the other way. It was a pretty bad injury,” Kirk explained. “Bones were broken and ligaments were wrecked.”
The setback caused Kirk to miss the final regular season game in 2010, the East division Semi-Final and nine games in 2011. It took Kirk more than 10 months to fully recover from the foot injury sustained against the Stampeders.
“I was almost four months on crutches, that was the toughest part. Being an athlete I like to keep myself in shape and when you’re not able to it’s tough,” Kirk said. “But you have to stay positive and when you are able to get back in the gym, you have to make sure you get back to your full ability.”
Kirk’s recovery period was a tad longer than he had anticipated, but he never let that get him down as he worked through the process.
“It was just a really slow recovery period, which was surprising to me, I was rehabbing five days a week,” Kirk said. “I was doing lots of physio and when you don’t use your muscles for that length of time you lose a lot of strength, he added”
“To strengthen the foot again I used resistance bands but the hurdle I had was doing different movements on my toes, I did a lot of calf raises and ladder work to improve the balance on my toes again.”
Last Sunday in Montreal Kirk made his return to CFL action, suiting up after practicing with the team and getting his fitness level up to game shape for about two weeks.
“I still have a little ways to go,” he said. “I felt ok in the game, but it will take a few games to get up to speed. Be able to anticipate, instead of just reacting is the biggest thing.”
Regardless of his level of stamina Kirk was just happy to be back playing football once again.
“It was exciting. I was just happy to get back out there with the guys,” he said. “You practice all week long and then you don’t get to travel with the guys, you kind of feel left out. I was glad to get out there, glad to get my feet moving again and hit someone, really be a part of the team again.”
Kirk just wants to help his team out and his return to the lineup adds depth and ratio flexibility, both ingredients a CFL club can never have enough of.
