Healthy Lulay knows he can still play
The other day, Travis Lulay glanced up from the sweat and misery of two-a-days and saw his old teammates, Bobby Singh and Sherko Haji-Rasouli, taking in the Lions’ training camp.
They looked tanned and relaxed. They looked pain- and stress-free. Lulay, who was none of those things, was about to say, “Hey look, there’s Bobby and Sherko.” Then he realized those names didn’t mean a lot to 95 per cent of the players at Lions camp.
“I’m the oldest guy here,” Lulay volunteered during a quiet moment.
And maybe he’s old in football terms. But in the twilight of his career — Lulay turns 34 in September — he still believes he can contribute and still believes the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player is there somewhere.
If it’s any consolation, he’s convincing others that guy is still around.
After suffering a pair of calamitous shoulder injuries in his prime years, the former MOP seems to have undergone a regeneration at this Lions camp. Lulay’s arm now looks stronger and livelier than at any point since 2013, and he still has the presence and command of a 12-year pro. He’s looked good in scrimmages. In Calgary on Tuesday, he was four-for-five in his limited pre-season stint.
If this was a few years back, in fact, Lulay would be the story of this Lions camp, and his play would be a massive development for the team. But, in 2016, Jonathon Jennings took over the quarterback position and is now firmly established as the team’s present and future QB, making Lulay, who was Jennings six years ago, an expensive insurance policy.
“It’s the cycle of the game,” Lulay said. “Yeah, it happens fast.” This much he’s come to know. “I can tell you (my throwing arm) feels the best it’s felt since 2012,” Lulay said. “Now I’m not even thinking about it. I’m making whatever throw I want to make.
“If I didn’t believe I could play at a high level, my desire to play would be different. But I still feel good about what I can do. I still think I can play.”
Which is good for Lulay, but it might not be terribly relevant for the Lions this season.
If everything goes according to plan, this will remain Jennings’ team and Lulay’s larger contribution will come as Jennings’ mentor/consigliere, a role that he adopted last year, which seems to be setting up a career as a coach.
“I think about it,” Lulay said. “I love a lot about coaching. I mean,
part of my role is almost in that world. As a long-term career, I don’t know yet, but I don’t want to discount it completely.”
In the meantime, he’s enjoying the hell out of being healthy these days, and, given everything he’s been through, he’s earned every minute of that.
Looking back, it’s hard to conceive of the dizzying highs and crushing lows Lulay has experienced in his eight full years with the Lions. In his first Leos camp, he was fourth on the depth chart when he was thrown late into a pre-season game in Calgary, converted a second-and-10, went on to complete eight-of-10 for 140 yards and made the team.
“What if that pass gets batted down at the line of scrimmage?” Lulay said with a laugh. “What if the snap goes over my head? We might not get the ball back. I didn’t know if I’d ever play football again.”
But he doesn’t laugh about the injuries. In 2011, a 28-year-old Lulay led the Lions to the Grey Cup, was named the league’s MOP and seemed to be settling in for a run as one of the CFL’s marquee players. Following a 2012 that was as good statistically as his MOP campaign, the Lions were off to a 7-4 start in 2013 when Lulay took off on a 19-yard touchdown run against Montreal, met Als defensive back Geoff Tisdale at the goal-line and separated his right shoulder.
He missed the next six games of the regular season, had surgery in the off-season, then separated it again the next year while reaching for a loose ball in the rain in Ottawa.
The star of 2011 was lost in those two injuries. He’s never returned.
“I thought I’d walked off the field for the last time that night (in Ottawa),” Lulay said. “It hit me that hard. I mourned the end of my career.”
But he came back, and even if that career wasn’t what it might have been, Lulay is at peace with everything that was and might have been. He and his wife, Kimberly, have three daughters. There will be opportunities on and off the field when he retires. He remains the consummate pro and an exemplary citizen.
He admits to thinking about things. What if he would have slid at the goal-line instead of running into Tisdale? What if he would have stayed healthy? What could he have accomplished?
Then he takes out the scales, weighs everything and understands they’re tilted in his favour.
“I guess it would be easier to play the pity party and go, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ ” Lulay said. “But I’ve had some moments that guys dream about. I’m aware of it and that doesn’t go away, regardless of what happened.”
Which is something the oldest guy would understand.