The Province

Travellin’ man anchors B.C. line

Hunter Steward saw the world with military dad before landing with Lions

- CAM TUCKER

Hunter Steward is used to the weekly battles on the line of scrimmage. This week, the 25-year-old Canadian offensive lineman goes one-on-one with Cam Tucker in the B.C. Lions Blitz Q&A, where they discuss Steward’s family connection­s in the military, travelling the world with his father, a lieutenant colonel in the Armed Forces, playing high school football in Virginia Beach, his perfect meal and a possible future in the craft beer industry.

Q: Your family has a military background. The travelling around you did as a kid … what was it like to move around, not only to places in Canada, but also in the United States and Europe?

A: Well, I was in Germany when I was really young. I don’t really remember a whole lot of it. I’ve got little picture memories.

I was in the U.S. for my senior year of high school. That was a little easier. It was tough sometimes, moving every single year. There was a span where we were moving every single year. It was tough in some respects. Friends don’t really carry you over. You don’t know people for that long. But you get used to it, you adapt. I ended up enjoying it, moving a lot, seeing different places and different people.

What did it mean for you to be nominated for the Jake Gaudaur Award? (According to the CFL, the award recognizes the player “who best demonstrat­es the attributes of Canada’s veterans: strength, perseveran­ce, courage, comradeshi­p and contributi­on to their community.”)

It was a big honour. It was a long road getting there, with the foot injuries. It took a lot of resilience and sticking to it. It was nice to be recognized for that. I didn’t win the award but I didn’t need to. Just getting the nomination is nice.

Coming from a military background, I’m sure (being nominated) held special meaning?

It was pretty significan­t and neat. It’s just an honour. That’s all I can say about it.

Were you surprised that you were the nominee?

Yeah, a little bit. It’s not very often that offensive linemen get recognized for awards, so I was a little surprised.

In travelling, what city or destinatio­n stands out above the rest?

I really enjoyed Ottawa. I had a really good group of friends in Ottawa. I think I was there for Grades 8-9. I really enjoyed Kingston. I was there for Grades 10-11, also had a really good group of friends in Kingston. They had a good high school there.

Virginia Beach was a lot of fun, too. I played high school football down in Virginia Beach in front of huge (crowds). That was a big change of pace.

I had a lot of fun and met a lot of really good people down there and had some really good coaches.

Maybe just an estimate, but how big was the largest crowd you played in front of in Virginia Beach?

I think our rival game against Ocean Lakes was around 8,000. Less than 10,000. It was a lot of people. The stands were full of people, lining around the field and standing on cars. It was a lot of fun. Do you remember the vibe from that game? What was it like?

It was nuts. You don’t get anything like that in high school football in Canada, so it was a neat experience. I’ll never forget … I’ve always got an image painted in my head of the stands all full, running out onto the field. It was a lot of fun. The whole deal. The whole American Friday Night Lights deal.

In your travels, what was the best location for food?

For food? That’s interestin­g. Well, Virginia Beach has some really good seafood. I loved going to — I can’t remember the place. It was called Crab Shack or something like that. You get a big bucket of crab. It’s nice. I loved the seafood in Virginia Beach.

Kingston actually had some pretty good food, too. I always remember going to Bubba’s Poutine in Kingston. Ottawa is good, too. There’s a lot of different cultures in Ottawa. I remember eating a lot of Lebanese food in Ottawa. What’s your ideal meal? I’m a steak and potatoes kind of guy. I love a nice steak. A little bit of carbs and some veggies. Pretty simple. I love to grill, so anything I can cook up on the grill. I like to cook for myself a lot, too.

What’s the craziest meal you’ve ever cooked up?

I’ve got a smoker in my back yard. I smoke meat a lot. One time I just did pulled pork with a pork butt, I did a couple of chickens and made my own barbecue sauce. It was a big cookout. It was fun.

You made your own barbecue sauce?

Yup, smoked the peppers and then used the drippings from the smoked meat and made a barbecue sauce.

Once you’re done with football, will you look at the barbecue sauce market?

I’d like to coach when I’m done playing. After that I’d like to potentiall­y open up a brew pub. So yeah, I could have a little barbecue side to that.

If you ever score a touchdown, what celebratio­n would Hunter Steward have?

Well, I like my beer. As I said, I plan on opening a brew pub, so I’ve always thought about doing the beer shotgun with the football.

Poke a hole in it and shotgun the beer with the football. That’s always an option.

I don’t know. I’m probably never going to score a touchdown, so I don’t really put too much thought into it.

Vancouver is a big craft beer place. Do you like craft beer?

Yeah, I love craft beer. I guess you could say it’s a passion. I’m actually going to start brewing my own beer in-house here soon. I’ll start experiment­ing for my later career.

 ?? GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG FILES ?? Lions offensive lineman Hunter Steward, left, says he hopes to open a brew pub once his playing days are over.
GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG FILES Lions offensive lineman Hunter Steward, left, says he hopes to open a brew pub once his playing days are over.

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