SHOCK AND AWE
Lion talks about B.C. return
This is what you need to know about Micah Awe.
The well-spoken outside linebacker, who on Monday returned to the B.C. Lions with a new contract after four months of pigskin purgatory following his release by the New York Jets, has a degree in petroleum engineering. He sees a bigger picture of what he can bring to the real world and not just the football field.
Awe speaks of infrastructure and using his platform as a professional athlete to make his community better. But he talks most passionately about football.
And the winding road that brought the 24-year-old back to the Lions’ fold is more than the CFL club being fined for releasing Awe with a year left on his contract Jan. 31 so he could pursue the NFL.
The resulting uncertainty and politics of chasing another NFL dream — he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2016 pre-season — pushed Awe to the sidelines and tested his mettle. He couldn’t get an engineering job. He drove for Uber and delivered Amazon and Whole Food products in Chicago.
Fast forward and if Awe can quickly grasp systems, he might play Saturday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at B.C. Place Stadium. Noodle on that.
“It has definitely been a journey,” Awe said Tuesday. “I kind of went to the wilderness for more than 40 days and 40 nights. I just wanted to make sure that B.C.
would give me an opportunity to go and sign with the Jets and whether I got an opportunity with them, it is what it is.
“If anything, it only fuelled the fire so deep in me that they (Jets) didn’t give me a chance past the third day of the draft and they gave it to some college kid. In my eyes, that’s motivation.”
Awe could have waited until the opening week of the NFL regular season to see how the roster landscape unfolds. Instead, he kept in touch with Lions management and occasional conversations became more regular.
“You can’t predict the future,” said the six-foot, 221-pound Texas Tech product. “The one thing about being a professional athlete is that you have no control at all. One day B.C., the next day the Jets and the next day nothing.
“You have to see what you have in your hands and play your cards right. With B.C., I see it as an upgrade.”
There is a comfort zone here, but the road back was rocky.
“I couldn’t get an engineering job,” added Awe. “Every person I called — am I supposed to tell them I’ll be here for six months because the Jets or B.C. or another teams might call? They teach you to be a student athlete in Division 1 football, and in real life how realistic is that?”
A year ago, the situation was to make a training-camp impression as a free agent and earn a roster spot. He did more than that.
Awe appeared in all 18 games, including the final nine as a starter alongside Solomon Elimimian. He had 54 tackles and another 16 on special teams.