as the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Regina, SK, September 4, 2016 Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
Luc Mullinder
It’s not always playing the actual game that one misses the most when a player walks out of a professional football facility for the final time; it’s the locker room.
Sure…during big games a retired pro may wake up feeling like they’ve got “one more play” in them but many times that’s simply one’s ego getting the last word over one’s common sense.
During these brief conflicts between the body and the mind, any former pro that encounters this inner debate must remind himself that it’s the locker room (and maybe the paycheque) that is playing tricks on him, not the field.
I was reminded of this as I listened to a couple of good friends Matt Dominguez, and Ivan Gutfriend, speak during their Plaza of Honour Inductions last night. Two men that wanted nothing more than to be good fathers to their children also recognized how much they loved being part of the locker room culture that is pro sports.
The real world is full of rules and regulations. The only downfall to having a long career in any sport (minus the physical ailments) is that one becomes more engrained with the way a locker room operates than with the way the real world expects one to operate.
Sometimes the adjustment is as chaotic as throwing a hungry Polar Bear into a room full of seals.
Case and point…
One cannot walk around throwing things and cussing in the hallways of a real business. In the locker room, not only can a player walk around cussing, he/she can do it naked and nobody will bat an eye.
Now that I’ve some spent time in an “office setting” I’m alarmed at the line of zombies at Tim Hortons (or their company coffee machine) prior to any actual work getting done.
I remember approaching one of my colleagues with a budget sheet a couple of years ago and she angrily responded, “Luc I can’t deal with this until I’ve got some coffee in my system ok?!? Can you just leave it in my office?!?”
There’s no coffee dependency in a professional locker room. As soon as one walks into a team dressing room the odor of shoulder pads and competition is enough to everyone going, and keep a player’s awareness up until practise is over with.
It’s impossible to try and explain the bonds that are formed between athletes during their time together in the sacred space that’s being discussed here.
People in the real world have that one special friend that they can not communicate with for 5 or 10 years, and at first sight they’ll be able to hold a conversation as if no time has gone by at all…Now imagine having 60 friends like that…That’s what a locker room does.
At 1-10, the 2017 Saskatchewan Roughriders are on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Although Ridernation still maintains a supremely positive attitude towards the club, the goal is to WIN and unfortunately that hasn’t happened for the team yet.
One thing that is for certain though, is that whatever the end result may be at the conclusion of this season, regardless of the wins and losses, this will be a special year for the 60 plus guys that finish the campaign.
At the end of the day these players were professional athletes. They’ve had the opportunity to create life-long relationships with young men from all over North America, and they’ve been part of a sacred institution that 99% of the world will never be able to access.
One could have all of the money and the power in the world; one cannot buy the membership that the 2017 Saskatchewan Roughriders players area a part of right now.
The Locker Room is exclusive. Once a player has walked away from it for the final time, they’ll carry those memories with them for the rest of their lives.
It is an environment that will never be duplicated, or found, for as long as they live.
It’s the only thing that’s missed consistently once the roar of the crowd cannot be heard anymore.
