Lulay living in the moment
After quarterback tore up his knee, he had to decide if playing football was still what he wanted
When he signed up for yet another rehab and another nine months in Hotel Hell, Travis Lulay knew there were no guarantees at the end of his journey.
Oh, he knew there would be a lot of pain. And frustration. And uncertainty. And if he had any doubts about that, they were dispelled five weeks after the operation when an infection set into his surgically repaired right knee. The subsequent scope was performed on Halloween when his wife Kim and three daughters were out trick-or-treating. Jonathon Jennings, the man he’d supplant as the Lions’ starter, picked him up from the hospital after the procedure.
Somehow this all seems to fit.
“If you were going to ask him then if he was going to make it back, my guess is he would have said no,” said Lulay’s agent and close friend Dan Vertlieb.
Apparently no one asked him that question.
Lulay opted instead to follow the same game plan he used at other points in his career when the football gods were trying to send him a message. He didn’t look at the mountain he had to climb. He looked at that first step.
Now, well, he knows there are still no guarantees and this can all end tomorrow.
But this tells you all you need to know about Lulay. He’s at peace with what was and what will be and just to stand here on this day, talking about the next game, talking about his guys, represents all he ever wanted from his decision to try one more time.
“I asked myself, ‘Do I want to do this?’ ” the Lions quarterback said after a recent practice. “And I thought, ‘Yes, I think I do.’ After everything I went through I still wanted to play, and to be on the field now is the best feeling.
“I thought, ‘I’ll go through the operation and rehab then see where we are.’ I think that was the best way to go about it. My biggest priority was I wanted a healthy knee for the rest of my life.”
He’s got a little more out of the bargain.
Lulay is about to suit up for his sixth straight game as the Lions’ starter, and while he hasn’t taken the CFL by storm in his return, there’s a larger story being written about the 34-year-old veteran. As late as training camp, he was still unclear about his playing status and what he could and couldn’t contribute. It was a similar story when the Lions approached him about starting in Week 4 after Jennings got off to a rocky start.
Since then, Lulay has provided a competent, professional level of play that appears to have stabilized his team. Heading into Saturday’s meeting with Saskatchewan, Lulay has averaged just under 300 yards passing per game, while throwing six touchdown passes against four interceptions and recording a so-so 90.6 efficiency rating.
Along the way he led the Lions to comeback wins over Winnipeg and Edmonton at home, but came up short in road losses in Ottawa, Calgary and last weekend in Toronto. Again, this story can still go a number of ways and Lulay is aware of the many variables in play.
But he’s also aware the Lions face the Roughriders this weekend and that’s his entire focus.
“Is this rewarding?” he asked rhetorically. “Maybe down the road I’ll think about that. Right now I’m in this moment. Wally (Buono)
yelled at the offence for starting slow in practice the other day and that’s what I was thinking about.”
Lulay’s return to the starter’s role has been so seamless you almost forget everything that’s gone into his comeback. This off-season represented his third attempt at returning from major surgery. He came back from the previous two operations, both involving his throwing shoulder, and last year he was on his way to a storybook season when he tore his knee up against the Alouettes in Week 11.
To that point, he’d rallied the Leos to a 6-5 mark and led all CFL quarterbacks in efficiency rating. Then he shredded his knee on a seemingly innocent-looking run, ending both his and the Lions’ season.
Still, it was his performance in those handful of games last season that told him he still had some football left in his body. In February, the week before free agency, the Lions stepped up with a contract offer and here we are.
“It’s priceless,” said Lions offensive co-ordinator Jarious Jackson of Lulay’s presence. “Even if he didn’t play a down he was going to help us. It’s just who he is and his knowledge of the game. To me you have to have guys like him when you’re trying to build your team.”
Of course, it helps that he can still play a little.
“I hardly played in 2016 but I enjoyed the heck out of that year, just being around the guys and being a leader on the team,” Lulay said. “I thought I’d be OK if that’s what this year would be like. I didn’t know if I’d get a chance to play. I knew nothing was guaranteed. Now I have this opportunity.”
And you don’t have to ask what it means to him.