You’re thanking them now, Mr. Cameron

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This article was published 23/08/2010 (5713 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Bob Cameron was inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame on Aug. 11, the Brett Favre of punters had a long list of people to thank.

There were former coaches that punched his ticket for an astounding 23 years.

There were teammates who helped make him part of three Grey Cup championships, in particular his long-snapper John Bonk — "Never bounced a snap to me, never put one over my head in seven years" — and

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place-kicker Trevor Kennerd.

Cameron also gave a shout out to his fan club (Yes, the punter had a fan club, championed by Bombers superfan Cathy Garski).

But after all those years — Cameron finally retired at age 48 — there were two people the punter didn’t thank, or couldn’t thank. At least not in front of thousands of fans gathered at Mosaic Field last Thursday night. Not in front of the cameras.

His parents.

"Honestly, I didn’t even say a word about them because I knew I would lose it if I got up there and started talking about my parents," Cameron said, recounting his Hall of Fame weekend in Regina.

"I couldn’t. Even when you’re asking me now, it’s difficult for me."

It wasn’t just the 23 years in a Bombers uniform that kept William and Sylvia Cameron on pins and needles back in Ancaster, just outside of Hamilton. It wasn’t the eight times Cameron was cut before finally sticking with the Blue Bombers back in 1980. It was every game their kid ever played.

"I’ll never forget a game in Ottawa, an exhibition game in 1978, and my parents came up for it," recalled Cameron, now the only full-time punter inducted into the CFL’s shrine. "I was drafted by the Edmonton Eskimos in 1977 and was cut. Then I went to Calgary and was cut there. I went back to university and then tried out for Ottawa.

"And I shank the ball off the end of my foot. It went for about 15 yards. I was devastated. I’m going to get cut for sure again.

"And they were like, ‘Oh, Bob, don’t worry. You’re going to make it.’ They stuck with me all the way through those extremely difficult and emotional times for me."

Your humble agent had the good fortune of travelling to Cameron’s childhood home several years ago to meet his folks, who were the walking definition of longevity. His mom, Sylvia, was in her late 70s and whipping up supper. His father, Will, was in his mid-80s, still tooling around his workshop making birdhouses and such. Sylvia would paint them.

To see the Camerons so active in their 70s and 80s was to understand how their son was playing pro football in his 40s. The basement of their bungalow was a treasure trove of Cameron memorabilia, including a game-day program from that fateful Ottawa exhibition game that listed Cameron third on the depth chart at quarterback (the position he played winning the Hec Creighton at Acadia), behind Condregde Holloway and Tom Clements.

William died in 2004, a week before his 92nd birthday. Sylvia suffered a stroke at age 80, just three months after attending the Hall of Fame game in Hamilton in 2008, fittingly, where Bonk was inducted.

It’s true when Cameron insists his bust would never be in the Hall if not for his tenure through so many memorable, championship years as a Bomber.

"I never thought I’d have a chance," he allowed. "I really didn’t think so. If other people are willing to think my career was good enough to be in the Hall of Fame, then I am very happy to accept. But it’s a reflective glory on how good the teams were that I played on. Once you get that Grey Cup tattooed on you, people look at you differently in your career, rightly or wrongly."

But Sylvia and Bill were there long before Cameron ever arrived in Winnipeg, or hoofed his first punt. Or was handed his first pink slip.

And when their son went into the Hall last week, his twin daughters Avery and Ainsley, 11, son Shane, 15, and wife Louise were at the half-time ceremony. In fact, the only Cameron missing was the eldest son, 20-year-old Brett, who drove to Regina Saturday from Grand Forks, where he’s preparing for his sophomore season as a punter for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

Just so you know, Bob Cameron attended all his son’s games last season, even though Brett, as a rookie, was only allowed one punt a game — just 10 all season. This season he’ll be the Sioux’s No. 1 punter.

"I’ll be watching," the father said. "But I have to admit I get nervous. You’re sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, I hope he hits this thing.’"

Bill and Sylvia Cameron would have said the same thing. Guaranteed. Turns out, the circle of life has quite the hang time.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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