Riders icon content to exit game on his own terms
REGINA Former Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant wasn’t the least bit blue after announcing his retirement from football on Friday.
“I’m happy and I’m in a good place mentally,’’ Durant, who had signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in January, told the Regina Leader-Post after concluding a 12-season CFL career that was highlighted by 11 years with Saskatchewan.
“You always wonder when it’s your time to leave the game and how you would feel. You always want to leave on your own terms. So many guys get cut before they are ready to leave and they don’t get that opportunity to play again. To be able to leave on my own terms is always the best for an athlete.’’
The announcement was stunning because Durant was believed to be preparing to open training camp on May 20 as a backup to the Bombers’ Matt Nichols.
Instead, Durant is retiring as a result of unspecified opportunities away from the field that allow him to move on to the next chapter.
The birth of Durant’s daughter (Amayah Taylor) in January also contributed to his decision. “It’s just time,’’ Durant said. “I’ve been training and working hard this off-season and my body just hasn’t been responding the way I feel like it needs to be ready for the season. I just had a daughter and being away from her was extremely tough.’’
Another aspect that contributed to Durant’s decision was watching his teammates deal with being separated from their families during the long CFL season.
“Every year I’ve seen Rob Bagg have to leave his three kids to come to Regina,’’ Durant said. “Then they are in Regina for a couple of weeks and he doesn’t see them again for a couple of months.
“I’ve seen grown men crying because they haven’t seen their kids in four or five months. It’s not easy and being a father I understand that. I want to be there every step of the way for my daughter.’’
Durant’s retirement caught the Bombers by surprise. They acknowledged in a statement the decision was “a challenging and difficult process for Darian, and the uncertainty has been challenging from our perspective as well.”
The team disclosed that it didn’t know about Durant’s intentions until the statement appeared on social media. “While we respect his decision, we are of course extremely disappointed,” the media release said.
Durant said he let the Blue Bombers know before their April mini-camp what his intentions might be.
“They gave me a little bit of time to come to grips with whatever I wanted to do,’’ Durant said. “My agent has been in touch with them over the past couple of weeks.
“It was getting dragged out a little bit and it was getting closer to training camp. I didn’t want to drag it out and I was in the dark how it would be handled, so I decided to go ahead and announce it.’’
Durant guided the Riders to Grey Cup berths as the starting quarter- back in 2009, 2010 and 2013. He won it all in 2013, leading the Riders to a 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium.
On Jan 13, 2016, Durant was traded to the Montreal Alouettes after talks on a contract extension broke off.
He spent one season with the Alouettes before being released on Jan. 15, just before he was to receive a $150,000 bonus from Montreal.
He received a $70,000 signing bonus from the Blue Bombers, whose request that he return the money has been declined.
“Trust me, I totally understand the frustration on Winnipeg ’s end, but this business is cruel,’’ Durant said. “At the end of the day, I’m comfortable with what I did. I worked my butt off to get ready for this season and it just didn’t work out.’’