Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
As far as L’Damian Washington was concerned he was through with football.
After being released from eight professional teams over a three-year span, Washington was ready to move on with his life. He had a job lined up, had stopped working out regularly and was taking a little time for himself.
“It was over for me,” said Washington. “Football was not a thought for me.”
Then the Winnipeg Blue Bombers called. Washington decided, what the heck. Give it one more chance.
“I had nothing to lose,” he said. “If I got cut I would go back to what I was doing before. I had a backpack full of stuff so I just came. I didn’t pack for long term though.”
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Washington arrived in Winnipeg on June 1 fighting a bad cold. He stuck with the Bombers through training camp and pre-season. Last Saturday, playing a slotback position he is still learning, Washington had two catches for 38 yards and a touchdown as the Bombers opened their CFL season with a thrilling 43-40 overtime victory against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
For the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Washington alum, the game was a little redemption for all the teams that thought he wasn’t good enough. It also was another step on a long journey that has seen the 26-year-old experience the death of both parents at a young age and being virtually homeless while trying to remain a family with his three other brothers.
“It felt really good,” Washington said about his first CFL game.
“All the hard work I put in, just going from team to team, then finally finding a home in Canada. It felt good to be out there in the first game with guys you didn’t know 30 days prior. Now they are your best friends and your brothers who you go to war with come game time.”
Washington’s life reads like a Hollywood movie script except the story is real. Growing up in Shreveport, La., he was six when his father was murdered. Then at 15 his mother died of a stroke while attending his high school basketball game.
“It just made me rely more on my strength and in my faith. I knew no matter what, at the end of the day you have to enjoy life and enjoy the moments that came with it.”
Washington on the grief of losing his parents
L’Damian Washington had two catches for 38 yards in his CFL debut, including a TD (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
With no parents, life became a struggle.
“I was living from friend’s house to friend’s house,” Washington said. “I was never in the street but I also didn’t have an address to call my own.”
Washington and his brothers La’Courtney, Tobias and Tomarious stayed in touch, trying to keep the family together. Washington learned lessons about himself and life.
“It just made me rely more on my strength and in my faith,” he said. “I knew no matter what, at the end of the day you have to enjoy life and enjoy the moments that came with it. Just stay persistent.
“In high school, I thought football was over. Then four weeks before signing day, schools came from nowhere and offered me scholarships.”
Washington attended the University of Missouri, where over three seasons as a wide receiver he had 100 catches for 1,735 yards and 15 touchdowns. In his final year he was voted a team captain.
He graduated with a psychology degree but gained something even more important than an education.
“Missouri is my family,” he said. “Those guys took me in. The whole Mizzou nation took me in.
“I have people now that I call my parents because they took me in and helped me out. That taught me if you invest in people, it’s the best thing you can do. When they invested in me, it brought out the best in me.”
Washington wasn’t taken in the 2014 NFL draft. Over the next few years, he kicked around the league having stints with Dallas, San Francisco, New York Giants, Cleveland, Miami, Pittsburgh and Washington. Last September, he signed with the Edmonton Eskimos but was released from the practice roster two weeks later.
This year, Washington attended an Eskimos’ mini-camp but wasn’t invited to the main camp. That’s when he decided his football dream had ended.
“It was over for me,” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about football, I was just living a normal life.”
L’Damian Washington celebrates after scoring against the Riders in Week 2 (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)
When the Bombers contacted him, Washington hadn’t worked out for a month.
“I came here not even knowing if I still had the same footwork, if I could catch the ball,” he said. “Could I run a decent route? And I was sick.”
Being a wide receiver most of his life Washington is still learning how to play slotback. He’s also dealing with the waggle and an extra defensive player on the field.
“It’s been an adjustment,” he said. “It’s difficult because now you have to learn every position, you have to know what every guy is doing.”
The win over Saskatchewan was Washington’s first full game in over three years. He was finally back doing something he loved.
“A month prior, I thought football was over for me,” he said.
“One team doesn’t even think you’re good enough to go to training camp when another team thinks you’re good enough to start week one. It’s about having somebody that believes in you and gives you an opportunity.”
With one game under this belt, Washington is looking for improvement when the Bombers host the Calgary Stampeders Friday night at Investors Group Field.
“In game one I made a lot of mistakes and I learned from those,” he said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to go out and keeping competing with my teammates and for the opportunity get better.”
