College teammate remembers slain Stamp
A state of disbelief still shrouding him five days after hearing the tragic news of his former teammate’s death, Kyler Elsworth thinks of Mylan Hicks, smiles and remembers a nickname.
“We called him Milo,” Elsworth, a Toronto Argonauts linebacker, said on Wednesday.
Hicks, a member of the Calgary Stampeders’ practice roster, was shot and killed outside a Calgary nightclub early Sunday morning. He was 23.
Nelson Tony Lugela, 19, of Calgary, was charged Monday with seconddegree murder.
Elsworth and Hicks were college teammates on the Michigan State Spartans. Elsworth recalls that Hicks was a good guy, and quite the character in the Spartans’ locker-room.
“A couple of guys, him included on the team, made their own rap songs. It was a funny thing, it was probably 15 songs,” he said. “It’s nice to have those memories to look back and think of.”
After the Argos’ loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday, Elsworth went back to Michigan State for the weekend to watch his alma mater play. On Sunday morning, Matt Rae — another former Spartan who spent time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last year — broke the news of Hicks’ murder to Elsworth.
Hicks was in the Calgary bar with some teammates, celebrating the Stamps’ win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, when a confrontation occurred. Hicks apparently bought Lugela a drink and put his arm around him, trying to calm him down.
“He never was a guy to go out of his way to look for a fight,” Elsworth said.
“To find out that he tried to step in and peer mediate the situation and calm him down and say there’s no need to get out of hand about this, I could definitely see him do that.”
Elsworth is from Goodrich, Mich., which is about a 90-minute drive from Hicks’ hometown of Detroit. With both players coming in as walkons, they faced similar obstacles on the field.
“I had to earn everything I had and it was the same way with him. He had guys in front of him that were firstround draft picks. He had to bust his butt,” Elsworth said.
“It’s always good to see someone work hard and go on to the next level, especially when you’re not expected to make it out of the city you’re from. People get killed, or they don’t get their education.
“He graduated from Michigan State and got his degree and went on to play professional football and then it’s gone in an instant.”
Elsworth has played with a heavy heart for almost two months now; Michigan State punter Mike Sadler died in a car crash on July 23.
“It was definitely a shock, especially coming off of the news of Mike Sadler, and then waking up Sunday finding out this happened as well. I’m definitely in shock still. It’s unfortunate, a guy you played with that’s 23 loses his life in something stupid, it’s just a shock.”
Elsworth, along with Ottawa Redblacks cornerback Mitchell White, who also played with Hicks at MSU, will be part of a Hicks tribute video the CFL is putting together for this week’s games.
“It’s unfortunate, a guy you played with that’s 23 loses his life in something stupid, it’s just a shock.” ARGO KYLER ELSWORTH