Gore contemplates life after football
Veteran receiver wants to walk away healthy but admits his heart and mind are still in the game
Doing the dad thing on Thursday with two young daughters, one watching PAW Patrol — an animated TV series for preschoolers — the other trying to eat Play-Doh, Shawn Gore of the B.C. Lions sees life as a pendulum, a constant balancing act between football and family obligations.
“I definitely have to train really early in the day, or really late, so I can be around for the kids,” says Gore, whose wife Jonie is a working mother who is expecting the couple’s third child in April.
“It feels great to be away from football. That’s the beauty of the off-season. It’s a really good time to rejuvenate. With more of my career behind me than ahead of me, you start to assess where you’re at.”
Assessing his future seems a natural inclination for a veteran receiver who has played seven seasons in the CFL with a game log that sits at 113. Yet, as Gore is quick to note, that doesn’t include playoffs and pre-season games.
Gore doesn’t know — or is trying to forget — how many concussions he’s had in his career, but the most recent one suffered against the Ottawa Redblacks in Week 15 last year had unexpected consequences after he was cleared to play again.
In a Week 19 game in Regina, the team’s third-leading receiver suffered a relapse of concussion symptoms, even though there was no obvious indication of a telling hit.
Gore missed two games — the regular-season finale and the West Division semifinal playoff — before starting in the Lions’ 42-15 loss to Calgary in the West Final.
In football, players are trained to say, no matter how they feel, “I’m good. I can play through this.”
But as a dad, and a family bread winner, Gore weighs more carefully now the costs of paying the price.
“You view those symptoms with a little different perspective when you have kids,” he said. “When I was younger, I may have pushed through them. Now, I want to make sure I’m good and ready before I return.”
With 59 catches and 835 yards, he ended 2016 one catch and one yard shy of matching his best CFL season — 2011, the year the Lions won their last Grey Cup. Gore probably had a good shot at 1,000 yards for the first time had he not missed time.
Despite reports that he’s contemplating retirement, it’s not the direction Gore is leaning toward at the moment, knowing that once the genie has been unleashed, it usually can’t be put back in the bottle.
“I definitely haven’t made any decision,” he says. “Yes, (retirement) is an option. Once you decide to do it, you really have to be sure. It’s not a step to be taken lightly.
“I always tell younger guys you always have to think about setting yourself up for what comes next. Careers are short, and football is a volatile business.”
By making a bold move to sign free agent wide receiver Chris Williams, the Lions have added more speed and playmaking ability to a passing attack that could be breathtaking to watch and compelling in an entertainment sense — if Williams can return to form after ACL surgery.
“It’s a pleasant surprise,” Gore says. “I didn’t see it coming. But Wally (Buono) tends to have an extra card up his sleeve. Chris Williams is an amazing athlete.
“The chances are pretty high that an entire receiving corps won’t get through a year without injury. He not only gives us more depth. He’s a weapon. And the more weapons we have, the better it is for all of us.”
Gore’s mind isn’t on retirement when he’s saying this. He’s visualizing about what the Lions could become.
For while the soon-to-be 30-yearold father of three knows well football is a game of hurt, he’s also aware how much it will hurt to leave it behind.