Getting back hasn’t been a snap for Crawford
Generally speaking, the longsnapper on a football team only speaks to the media after something has gone terribly wrong, usually a misfire in the commission of his otherwise anonymous job.
But in the case of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Aaron Crawford, an exception must be made. His remarkable story of recovery and perseverance is just too good.
He’s also got really high pain threshold.
Crawford tore his ACL in a game against the Ottawa Redblacks on Oct. 27 last season, going down with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter. But the muscles in his leg seized up to an extent that trainers were unable to tell the ligament was damaged.
So Crawford finished the game. On a torn ACL. “I kept telling myself that I sprained that, that it wasn’t that serious. But yes, it hurt,” Crawford said. “At the time, I was annoyed that I looked like a hobbit running down field but I was happy that I wasn’t costing the team. I even got a tackle, too.”
There’s never a good time to suffer a serious injury but with Crawford set to become a free agent, getting hurt in the secondlast game of the year, the playoffs already out of reach, was doubly devastating.
“I had moments of doubt in the early days. They were telling me I was ahead of schedule but walking around a room doesn’t really give you a sense of accomplishment,” he said.
“I definitely had a doubts that anyone would want me,” he added.
Instead of going home to Medicine Hat, Alta., for the off-season, Crawford stayed in Hamilton to have reconstructive surgery — his meniscus was also torn — and did his rehab under the guidance of Ticats head athletic therapist, Claire Toffelmire.
His father came to help in the days and weeks after the surgery because he was the only member of the family strong enough to lift Crawford if things went wrong. Which, of course, they did.
“They tell you to let yourself fall instead of trying to steady yourself because you can put pressure on the joint,” Crawford said.
“And I did have one fall — I was lying on my back like a turtle until my dad came back into the room.”
Crawford also had some long distance support and inspiration from kicker Sergio Castillo who tore his ACL three weeks before Crawford. With Castillo back home in Texas, the two kept in touch via Snapchat, sending photos of their progress back and forth — and Crawford did not want to lose to a kicker.
“He’d be sending me stuff three or four weeks in advance of where I was at, so I was always trying to do it faster than he was,” Crawford. “That helped, having somebody I was close to going through it at the same time.”
Still, it was tough. Crawford hit the free agent market in February and, as he feared, went unsigned despite five years of near flawless performance as a CFL long snapper. As soon as he was physically able, he took a job working part-time as a personal trainer in Mississauga while also keeping an arduous rehab schedule.
But despite his status as a free agent, the Ticats continued to allow Crawford access to their facility and their training staff.
“The organization showed me that my health was their No. 1 priority. They never promised me anything but they were committed to my recovery,” Crawford said. “They told me when I was healthy, they’d give me a shot and they were true to their word.”
After being signed to the practice roster on July, Crawford officially rejoined the club this week and will make his season debut on Saturday against, as karma would have it, the Redblacks. He’ll take the field nine months and two days after his injury, a remarkable quick recovery time.
“I wrote down my goals when I got hurt and being a part of the team was a big thing,” Crawford said. “But to be able to come out of the tunnel again, it’s huge.”
Now that’s something worth talking about.
Talked it out
Brandon Banks says he and head coach June Jones have talked things out after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver had a meltdown on the sidelines during last Friday’s loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Banks slammed his helmet to the ground in frustration and appeared to express his frustration with Jones after the team failed to execute an onside punt early in the third quarter. The turnover led to Rider touchdown and lead they would not relinquish.
“I’m just tired of losing to teams I think we should beat. I think we be killing ourselves, that’s pretty much what I was frustrated about,” Banks said Thursday. “He definitely called me into the office later in the week and we just talked. I definitely need better body language because I consider myself a leader on the team. I can’t get that emotionally unstable. He definitely told me that I need to control it.”
Jones said after the game that the emotional outbursts — and Banks wasn’t the only one to lose his cool on the sideline is “something that losers do,” and that it would be addressed.
Banks said that’s what happened. “He’s doing what a coach is supposed to do. That was definitely out character. It was my fault,” Banks said. “Hopefully we can get back on the winning side and make everybody smile.”
Signed by Broncos
Canadian receiver Mark Chapman, selected by the Ticats with the first overall pick in the 2018 CFL draft, has been signed by the Denver Broncos of the NFL.
Hamilton has been unable to get Chapman under contract after trading away all-star guard Ryan Bomben and the second overall pick for the right to move up and take Chapman, who played his university football at Central Michigan.
Chapman attended a game in Hamilton on June 29, sitting with his family in the box of owner Bob Young but a deal has been elusive as the Ticats have tried to get Chapman to sign a contract at less than what previous first overall picks have been paid.
The Broncos training camp begins on July 28.
NOTES: Jones confirmed that receivers Luke Tasker and
Terrence Toliver are unlikely to play Saturday against Ottawa due to lower body injuries. Chris Williams, acquired in the Johnny Manziel trade, will start as
will Rashad Lawrence . ... It looks like American Avery Jordan will get the start at left tackle over Canadian Kay Okafor.