Ian Walker
Vancouver Sun

MONTREAL -- Casey Printers is uncomfortable. His jersey clings to his every move and the simple act of pulling it over his shoulder pads is a chore in and of itself; the light breathable fabric offering little protection from the deluge of water to fall over the course of a 90-minute practice earlier this week.

A soaked undershirt is the next layer of clothing to come off, followed by a pair of socks sopping with water. His knee-high pants, opaque when he put them on, are now nearly transparent and excess moisture drips to the floor as Printers bundles them up into a ball before gently tossing them into a laundry tub in the middle of the locker-room.

But it's not the elements that have the B.C. Lions quarterback feeling anxious. Rather, the conditions outside would be a welcome retreat from the media horde that awaits him at his stall.

It's three days before the B.C. Lions face the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL's Eastern Final at Olympic Stadium, and the mood at the team's Surrey headquarters is full of hope and promise. Loud, high-energy music blasts over the sound system and a few of the more-flamboyant players bust out in dance. One by one they juke and jive, pop and lock before making way for the next guy in a mock battle. It's highly entertaining and has the attention of all of those not engrossed by a collection of half-naked men playing cards and dealing insults at the other end of the room.

Slowly the media scrum in front of Printers disperses -- yet for one. Without looking up, he clears space beside him for his guest to sit down.

STRANGE JOURNEY

The story of Casey Printers the football player has been well-told since his return to the Lions. He'd been out of football since May, released by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the start of the season. Before that, there was a stint as a practice roster quarterback with the Kansas City Chiefs, making the jump to the NFL in 2006 following a controversial and injury-plagued CFL season with the Lions. One year earlier, he was the CFL's most outstanding player.

But this isn't that story. This is about Casey Printers the person. Or at least as close to an account as one can get without speaking with his mother, brother, life coach, former agent or anyone else outside of football that could add context to Printers' life journey.

It was at the suddenly media shy quarterback's request that his family and friends not be contacted for this story. No offence, mind you. It may be more indicative of his maturity than as a personal slight against the reporter.

"It's just that it makes me very uncomfortable with all the focus on me right now because it's not about my improvement," said Printers, the youngest of two sons raised by a single mother. "It's about a whole organization moving in the right direction, I'm just one person."

FINDING NEO

The movie The Matrix sneaked up on a lot of people. Yeah, there were trailers hyping its release, but really no one had a clue of what to expect. Ditto for Printers when he arrived in B.C. The 28-year-old Florida A&M grad brings up the 1999 blockbuster not to debate its merits as a science fiction classic. He remembers seeing it for the first time in a theatre in Fort Worth, Texas and has viewed it at least "100 times" in the 10 years since.

He's only recently found meaning in the film's metaphor. As a young man, he was hooked on the movie's unique visuals and a mysterious storyline. Today, it represents so much more.

"When you think about The Matrix everything terrible happened to [Neo] in that movie, but one day he woke up and all those numbers he saw, what they represented was infinite possibility," says Printers.

"Now he believes anything is possible -- anything you set your mind to is absolutely doable. That's what I try to focus on. I try to wake up and see the matrix. Before I just didn't understand the symbolism that went along with it, but because of the road I've travelled and the things I've experienced and seen, I'm able to apply it and see that's why I like it so much."

Helping Printers better understand the daily fight between perception and reality is where life coach Ray Perras comes into the picture.

"He's helped formulate things for me that allowed me to change some stuff about the way I was doing things," said Printers, who started working with Perras in 2008. "It's hard to explain it ...you have to look at the situation and take the positive even though it's perceived to be a negative. What that does is it helps your mind do good things, great things. If you do think that way, you'll never be surprised."

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Get this much straight, it's not like Printers was living off food stamps waiting for the phone to ring after being released by the Ticats. He's made a lot of money over the past four seasons -- including $500,000 over two failed seasons in Hamilton -- and will be in for another windfall next year. That being that, he's suffered his fair share of lows since leaving the Lions for the glitzy glow of the NFL.

But even in his darkest days -- as the brunt of jokes in Ontario's Steeltown or as practice roster also-ran in Kansas City -- he never gave in to despair. He always believed there was a plan for him.

"Everything that happens, happens for a reason and serves a purpose," says Printers, who has a book out, From High School to the Pros: The Ultimate Guide for the Student Athlete, and works as a motivational speaker outside of football. "What I want from life is for it to be down the middle. Ideally you want it to be steady. There are things that happen that take you up and there are things that take you down. What I really want to do is keep things right down the middle. A high school coach of mine used to tell me, 'nothing is as good as it seems or as bad as it seems. In reality it's right down the middle.' Every day I have that mentality."

And people are taking notice. Coaches, teammates, training staff, even the most skeptical of sports scribes can't deny there's a difference in Printers the man.

THE METAMORPHOSIS

"If you don't get it after doing the same thing for a while and not getting the results you want you're never going to get it," said slotback Geroy Simon, who is Printers' roommate on the road. "I'm glad to say Casey's got it. I think you can see that. I keep going back to the same thing. He's just more mature now and his maturity's starting to show. He was like 24 when he was here last. I know how much growing up I did between 24 and 28."

And there you have it. No magic elixir. No brush with death or hearing anyone's voice in his head other than his own. Maybe it is just that simple.

Courtesy: www.vancouversun.com