Former Blue Bombers punter has two sons heading to med school

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This article was published 20/06/2015 (4020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Football fans used to joke only a doctor could explain how former Winnipeg Blue Bombers punter Bob Cameron played football into his late 40s and never missed a game.

Well, now Cameron is going to have two doctors in the family.

His sons, Brett, 24, and Shane, 20, will both be medical students at the University of Manitoba this fall.

The brothers will pursue their medical degrees in the same class.

It’s made Sunday a special Father’s Day for Cameron.

“These two guys have worked so hard and done so well, it’s just unbelievable. And now they get to go after their next goals together,” said Cameron, who retired in 2002 at 48 after playing 23 CFL seasons.

A member of the CFL Hall of Fame (2010) and the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame (2003), Cameron is still the league’s iron man as he continues to hold the CFL record for consecutive regular-season games played with 353.

He remains the CFL’s all-time leading punter with 134,301 yards.

“For both of them to get in at the same time, I couldn’t be more proud,” he said. “And, if you’re not going to be a football player, med school is not a bad career option.”

Brett played college football and earned a biology degree at the University of North Dakota before attending two CFL training camps and being released by both the Blue Bombers in 2013 and Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2014. Shane, who began working toward his science degree at the U of M after high school, was a goaltender whose high school hockey career with the St. Paul’s Crusaders was cut short by a broken arm and a concussion.

The siblings were interested in different sports, and there is the age difference, so going to medical school at the same time will be one of the few times they’ve been involved in something together.

“That’s the best part about this whole thing. It’s really cool that I was able to get into med school, but it’s even better to be able to get there with Shane at the same time,” Brett said. “I graduated from high school at St. Paul’s in 2008 and Shane graduated in 2012, so we weren’t even in high school at the same time. So, it’s a good thing the last couple of years of trying out (in the CFL) happened the way they did because it worked out that we could get in there at the same time.”

Shane said they’ve learned studying together works.

“To get ready to write the (medical college admission test), there was a lot of preparation, so we were studying together, and we both learned from each other,” Shane said, “I think it’s going to be a great experience for us (to be in med school at the same time).”

Louise, the boys’ mom, inspired them to go to medical school. The couple also has twin daughters, Avery and Ainsley, who are Grade 10 students at St. Mary’s Academy.

“Louise is a nurse, and a lot of it is her influence. She’s very dedicated in her career and everything she does,” Cameron said of his wife.

Dr. Ira Ripstein, the associate dean of undergraduate medical education, said siblings study medicine in the same class at the U of M about once every three years. The school has even had a couple of sets of twins in the past.

“You will see a similar skill set (with some siblings),” he said. “But because most of our students don’t have a sibling (in their med school classes), we have a ‘big sib’ program where they are matched with a student a year ahead of them with similar interests.”

Cameron, who has been working in property management since his football retirement, said he framed his sons’ acceptance letters. After his sons found out, they told him to take them down.

“I said, ‘Relax, this isn’t for you. It’s for me and your mom.’ “

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca