Maturity, that’s Jyles’ style
Bench jockey or hero, there will be no tantrum or swelled head here
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/10/2010 (5805 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The urge was there, naturally, to let out a scream so full of anger and fury it would have rattled windows and peeled paint.
So, yes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Steven Jyles will admit now there was a moment last week when he was so p.o.’d about being benched he thought about going all Casey Printers and using his helmet to do some serious damage to anything or anyone within swinging distance.
Now, some would say the fact the urge evaporated so quickly may speak of the 28-year-old’s maturity. Truth is, Jyles will insist his ability to take a deep breath doesn’t represent some sort of recent metamorphosis or maturation, but instead comes from his parents and the influence of quarterbacks he has tutored under, like Ricky Ray, Marcus Crandell and Darian Durant.
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"I’m not going to say I understood it right away when they first told me they were starting (Alex) Brink because we were losing," Jyles said after practice Thursday. "I was like, ‘Hey… it’s not my fault!’
"But after they explained it to me — that it was because we were 3-10 and it wasn’t my fault, but there were areas I could improve — then I understood it. And then I took it from there and asked myself, ‘What can I do to improve?’ The bottom line IS about winning.
"It’s my mindset. Playing football is a blessing. If you stay positive about it and try to encourage other people, then good things will come back to you."
Of course, that’s an easy take to spit out now after coming off the bench to rally the troops to victory from a 32-11 fourth-quarter deficit that has made him the man of the moment in River City.
But the more you talk to Jyles, the more you come to understand why the man didn’t overreact to having the starting QB chores yanked from him. Just as he hasn’t spent the last few days thumping his chest in "told-you-so" fashion.
His dad, Ronnie, is a carpenter. His mom, Sheila, worked in a nursing home while tending to the kids in the Jyles household near Baton Rouge. Money didn’t always flow regularly, but his parents had a real sense of how to deal with the peaks and valleys life serves up on a daily basis.
"We weren’t a fortunate family that had everything we wanted," Jyles explained. "But we had a roof over our heads and clothes on our back. Once in awhile I’d see my parents stressing on things, but they really worked to try not to show it to us kids.
"They did a great job of handling everything and sticking with each other. Now that I’m older, I think about that and how we never knew that the family was going paycheque to paycheque or falling short here and there. Looking back now, I guess I took something from that — that no matter how the situation looked, it wasn’t the end of the world.
"And when I turned pro and I was behind Ricky Ray and watching how he handled everything and how composed and calm he was in situations, (it) taught me a lot. I saw what kind of guy he was, how positive he was, how he never bad-mouthed his coach or his teammates.
"And then once I got to Saskatchewan and saw how Marcus Crandell handled things and Darian Durant… I took some from each one of those guys."
The next step in all this is, of course, critical for Jyles and the Bombers. If he can miraculously lead his squad into the playoffs — or even keep them in the fight for a few more weeks — he’ll have wrapped his fingers around the starting job in 2011. After all, Buck Pierce’s unfortunate injury history means the franchise can hardly hitch their wagon again to him alone next season and Brink clearly needs more seasoning.
But don’t ask Jyles to do the big-picture thing. His parents’ paycheque-to-paycheque game plan back in the day applies perfectly to his own situation with the Bombers.
It’s all about the right here and right now.
"At times, you find yourself looking at it that way, that playing well the rest of the season here helps me stake a claim to the job," Jyles said. "But you can’t do that. My main focus is just getting a win, and if you keep winning, it’ll be your job. So that’s my main focus: Go into Montreal and get a win.
"It isn’t so much that I’m thinking ‘This is my job’, it’s more that I just want the chance to keep leading this team."
ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter.com/WFPEdTait
