Hoping to catch on

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2010 (5652 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chris Davis doesn’t get to decide when it’s over for good. Nobody — not any of the busted-up veterans or fresh-faced rookies in Winnipeg Blue Bomber training camp — ever does.

That’s how it works in pro football. A coach calls you into his office — and rarely are these chats about the wife and kids or the hot eateries in town — and spits out some party line about ‘going in a different direction.’ Davis, for the record, last heard it late last summer in Hamilton with Tiger-Cats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille.

And no matter how well a man prepares for that moment or understands its an inevitability in this business, the news can still hit you across the forehead like a 2×4.

"It was a tough situation," began Davis after practice on Tuesday. "I knew it wasn’t personal or anything and I know it’s a business. But it was tough because you come out every day and bust your tail and do the things you’re taught to do and then… it’s over.

"Mostly it just hurt for awhile. And then your next thought is about life after football. It’s ‘What do I do next?’"

Davis, despite being just 25 then, started rolling around the idea of becoming a high school coach/guidance counsellor — a gig he still plans to pursue when the cheering stops because he studied sociology at university and "sociology is the study of people. I like talking to people, interacting with people, studying people."

First, however, he studied himself. Deep down he felt he had something left if only he could get another opportunity. And despite being one of the Ticats’ leading receivers when he was dumped, Davis knew there were concerns about his consistency — he lit up the Bombers with six catches for 122 yards and the game-winning TD last July and then had only three receptions a week later — and began working on his craft as soon as the Calgary Stampeders scooped him up and placed him on their practice roster.

Over the winter he caught a ton of footballs, studied more film and tried to become more aware of the entire offensive gameplan, not just his own responsibilities on a specific play. It’s that work, plus the realization the dream can fizzle at any moment, that has Davis here in Winnipeg as hungry as a bear after a deep hibernation.

There’s regular work to be had in the Bomber receiving corps, too, what with Titus Ryan in Dallas with the Cowboys and the new coaching staff looking for candidates to step up and round out a crew that undoubtedly will feature Adarius Bowman, Terrence Edwards and Brock Ralph.

That’s why when the Bombers came courting over the winter, his eyes lit up like a kid at a carnival.

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"It’s a right-now league. You have to perform right now and you have to consistently perform right now," said Davis. "The biggest thing with me, the reason I feel I was released by Hamilton is I wasn’t consistent enough. That’s what I’m working on right now: being more consistent, being more involved in all aspects of the team."

And now, as fate would have it, Davis has a chance to put off the life-after-football plans with a solid performance this Sunday in Hamilton with the same team he torched just last year. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

"You just have to roll with the punches, man," said Davis with a grin and a shrug. "It’s all about opportunity. And then you have to hope that when you get an opportunity you take full advantage of it."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Today’s training camp report C3