Never say die

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This article was published 18/07/2016 (3367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Millions of kids grow up playing sports, but only a rare few will ever compete at the professional level. What they all have in common, however, is somewhere down the line they will learn to be a teammate.

What goes into building those relationships are lessons as important as any, and some that stretch beyond the field, rink or court. For football, where there are more players on a team than any other sport, more personalities and more views on life, it’s all that more important to mesh, to be able to put differences aside and become a cohesive unit in order to be successful.

I spoke with a number of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers about what they admired most in a teammate. Here are edited interviews of what they had to say.

Andrew Harris, 29, running back

The first thing is work ethic. You want someone who shows up and works hard, but most importantly is a warrior. When the game is on the line and we need a play, you want a guy who has the tenacity and intensity to get it done.

He’s a guy that no matter whether he’s nicked up or isn’t playing well, is able to overcome that and rise to the occasion. I pride myself on trying to be that guy, a guy everyone can count on. You want that from your teammates, too — the ability to rise up whenever you need to.

Kevin Fogg, 25, defensive back

It’s all about loyalty. You need to be able to trust your teammate is going to do his job on the field, knowing that they’re going to do exactly what they need to do to make the team better. Working your hardest every day is what builds that loyalty.

You’re not always going to see eye to eye, that’s just not going to happen with how many guys are on the team. But you know when you’re on the field you can lean on one another. You’re not always going to click, but this team is the common ground, this is the common area where no matter what differences you may have, this is where you come together. Football is a big fraternity and that’s how you have to treat it. If there’s someone in the group that you cannot trust, it brings negativity to the group and that’s not anything you want to have.

Keith Shologan, 30, defensive tackle

What you want is someone who wants you to succeed as much as they want themselves to succeed. Those are the guys who when you make a play, they’re the first ones to jump on your back to congratulate you — players who understand it’s about building a brotherhood. Once you make the team, you’re not competing against each other, you’re competing against other teams and it’s those guys that understand that make good teammates.

A poor teammate is someone who makes excuses for themselves and it usually shows negative on them. We’re all here, we’re all part of a family and if you don’t want to interact to be part of the family that’s where the issue comes in. I know there’s a lot of other things in the world that could affect that — race, religion and that kind of stuff — but all that stuff needs to be put aside in order to come together. Everybody has got their own personality and everybody has got their own beliefs and it’s great but you’ve got to be accepting of other things.

Adrian Hubbard, 24, defensive end

What I admire most about a teammate is his desire to play for their brother and always wanting to be great. When a teammate knows you can handle your job it makes them play better, it keeps you moving. That happens when everyone is on the same accord.

You don’t want to be the guy who isn’t with the rest of the team. You want to be doing the right things all the time, not just on the football field. Always be on time and do the right things for the team. That’s how people judge character.

Good teammates work on their craft. They study people, knowing what they like and what they don’t like. You’ve got to approach the game like a pro.

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Macho Harris, 30, defensive back

A person who is mentally strong. Someone who no matter what happens is able to stay even-keeled. The sign of a good teammate is someone who can keep things under control and show his peers that nothing phases him. He’s mature, and he can handle tough situations. That’s what it means to be dependable, to be a reliable guy in the locker room. That’s the kind of guy I like being around.

What you don’t want is a guy who looks for excuses instead of looking for an edge. Sometimes that means fighting through pain. As players, we understand there are injuries, we all have injuries. You never question a guy’s injury, but we as players, we know, we understand that there is certain things you can play through and those guys that try and milk it, we can see that, too.

Mike O’Shea, 45, head coach

Someone who has the ability to work extremely hard, someone with a high work rate right through an entire season. That includes understanding between hurt and injured, refusing to give in to fatigue — all that goes into that work rate. He needs to show up every day and work his tail off. That’s important, and the other thing for me is they have to be good guys.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.