Imagine what if…….

Imagine what ifs are always part of football or any sport. What if we scored on the first drive, what if we just stopped them when it was 2nd and 10 or simply what if we made it past Montreal. The “what ifs” in sports are always great to think about, but harmless in nature. However, as I listened to one of Cory Boyd speak about his bullying experiences I began to reflect on some of the other speeches of former Huddle Up players like Chuck Winters who talked about choices and how they mould you for the future. He reaches the students by explaining how he almost never gave football another shot after University. If he never showed up for the Arena football tryout, he would have never made the team and been in touch with Rich Stubler who then brought him to be a part of our 2004 Grey Cup team. Even Pinball who throughout his football career was told you aren’t big enough. Then when he finally made it to the NFL he was released due to injuries. Had he not answered the phone call from Ralph Sazio of the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts he would have probably never been such a big part of our storied franchise, and there is no telling where we would be. Those “what ifs” are a key part of life and specifically our message to youth during the bullying presentations. Personally, if it wasn’t for a bystander stepping up for me I wouldn’t be here at all. Then not making the phone call to the Toronto Argonauts hoping they would have room for one more ball boy. Never would I have imagined that the call 27 years ago would result in me creating a 10 year bullying prevention program affecting over 250,000 students in the Greater Toronto Area. I would hate to think of the “what if” that person never spoke up for me in my high school.
I am quite sure that someone or something in your life has allowed you to carry on in some way and I’d love to hear your “what if” story with how someone or something changed your life.

“Make your passion your Life and No one can take that away.