Stamps’ rookie remembered as ‘friendly, caring’

Mylan Hicks was a football coach’s dream.

Blessed with speed and athleticism to dazzle on the field, he also had the humility to accept criticism and coaching. And he always did it with a smile, according to his former high school coach.

“He was a very caring young man, very, very friendly,” Antonio Watts said Monday, a day after the Stampeders rookie was shot and killed outside a Calgary nightclub. “Even on the field when there’d be those times when players could get heated, he’d never lose his temper.”

Nelson Tony Lugela, 19, was charged Monday with second-degree murder in the death of the 23-year-old Hicks.

Hicks was in his first CFL season and on Calgary’s practice roster. He was celebrating with teammates following a 36-34 home win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, the Stampeders’ 10th straight victory.

Hicks played four seasons under Watts at Detroit’s Renaissance High School, starring both at running back and in the secondary. But Hicks also excelled in the classroom as Watts said students must not only write an entrance test to enrol but also maintain solid grades to stay at the school.

“Mylan was much more than just a football player,” Watts said. “He graduated with over a 3.0 grade-point average and never got into any trouble at any time.

“Some of the teachers who are here and some who’ve actually left the school have called me saying Mylan was one of their favourites.”

That’s why Watts, a math teacher at Renaissance, has trouble believing Hicks was part of an altercation at the Calgary club. Police say several people were involved in an incident inside the club and that it escalated in the parking lot. They say they don’t know if Hicks was targeted.

“He was never that type of young man,” Watts said.