Rob Vanstone
The Leader-Post
 
REGINA -- Don Narcisse is losing weight, but not sleep, as he prepares to return to his adopted home of Saskatchewan.

"I am really looking forward to the Hall of Fame inductions,'' said Narcisse, who is to be enshrined this summer when the Canadian Football Hall of Fame's ceremonies are held in this province for the first time.

"I hurry up to get to sleep so August can get here faster. I wish I could hibernate for four months. I just want to get on that flight.''

Hall of Fame celebrations are to be held Aug. 11 to 14 in Regina and Saskatoon. The sites are ideal for Narcisse, who retired as the Canadian Football League's all-time leader in receptions after playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1987 to 1999.

The 5-foot-9 Narcisse's playing weight typically hovered between 185 and 187 pounds. He now tips the scales at 192 after shedding more than 40 pounds since November.

"I wasn't working out and I was just eating everything,'' he said. "I've got a picture on my refrigerator -- a 'before' picture. I look at that picture and it's like, 'Oh, man ...'

"I had to lose that weight and I lost it. I'm in good, good shape now -- better shape than when I was playing. I can go! I showed up at 24 Hour Fitness at four or five o'clock in the morning every day and I just knocked it off. Now I feel so much better. I can run six miles like it's nothing.''

Narcisse is being honoured after gaining more than seven miles on receptions on behalf of the Green and White. He caught 919 passes -- which now places him fifth all-time -- for 12,366 yards, registering at least one reception in each of his 216 regular-season games as a Roughrider. The consecutive-games streak is the longest in CFL history.

Unofficially, Narcisse may hold a league record for most fans' birthday parties attended by one player. He also interacted with the Roughriders' faithful at any number of public events -- most notably as the inaugural spokesman for SaskEnergy's "Catch For KidSport'' program.

"I'm going to come up there with a lot of stuff to raise money for KidSport,'' said Narcisse, a 45-year-old mortgage broker who resides near Houston in Manvel, Texas. "I'm going to auction off a lot of things.

"I've got so many memories sitting here, and those things belong in Saskatchewan -- things like the gloves I wore when I set the all-time receptions record.

"It's going to be a great event. Man, I'm just blessed.''

Narcisse was not blessed with an abundance of size and speed. His admission into the Hall is largely attributable to unwavering determination, a fearless approach to catching the football in traffic, and uncannily reliable hands. Does anyone recall him dropping a pass?

He was part of the most exciting aerial attack in Roughriders history while combining with quarterback Kent Austin and slotbacks Ray Elgaard and Jeff Fairholm to terrorize opposing secondaries in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"I remember talking to Ray Elgaard after he was inducted, and they had that ceremony in Hamilton,'' Narcisse said. "He said, 'I was talking to a whole bunch of people I don't know.' Now in Saskatchewan, I'll be talking to everybody I know. I've got family and friends coming up for it. Team Narcisse is coming through there. It's going to be very nice.

"This is where I'm from. I'll do what I have to do in Saskatchewan because this is my last time to get an award, so I'm going to make the best of it. It's a pleasure to be able to share it with the fans of Saskatchewan. Without the fans, I wouldn't be where I'm at. We're going to show people what Rider Pride is all about.''

Narcisse is to be inducted alongside three other ex-players -- Tracy Ham, Elfrid Payton and Bob Cameron -- and builder Joe Pistilli. Each member of the Class of 2010 is a worthy inductee, but it is reasonable to expect Narcisse to steal the show because of its location.

"I don't want to take away from the Hall of Fame, but this is like my hometown,'' he said. "That's just the way it is.

"Every time I think of playing football in Saskatchewan, I just burst out crying. I'm just so ecstatic to be in this position. I can't wait."

Courtesy: www.leaderpost.com