By Darrell Davis,
Regina Leader-Post
When a group of performers needs some reworking to get it back on the charts — call the Justin family.
Airabin Justin answered the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ call when the CFL team began reconstructing its defensive backfield, much like his father, Sidney Justin, a former NFL cornerback, joined the rebuilt Miracles after Smokey Robinson left the famous Motown group.
“My dad’s a singer. He actually does everything,” Airabin Justin said following the Roughriders’ workout Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium. “He played football, sings, he’s an artist, he just thinks of stuff, like my name and my younger brother’s name (Airius).
“I talk to him almost every day, before every game he tells me things I need to do. He watches me and critiques me; he’s my biggest fan and biggest critic. I can’t deal with more. He’s a technician in everything he does. Everything has to be perfect, even small things around the house. The singing thing? It wasn’t going to be perfect, so I shut that one off.”
Sidney Justin, a cornerback, played with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Colts. He spent some time with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and played with Los Angeles in the 1980 Super Bowl.
In the 1980s, Sidney sang with a soul group named Shalamar before joining with two original members of the Miracles in 1993, about 10 years after Smokey Robinson’s last appearance with the group. But there was more than music in the Justin family, which was populated by boys capable of playing football and believing in Christ.
His father and an uncle, who helped develop his football skills, convinced Airabin to show his faith in a tattoo. So on Airabin’s left biceps is Philippians 4:13, a biblical passage that reads, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” On his right biceps is an interwoven script that says “Jesus” while reading right-side up and “Saves” reading upside-down. He got the verse in college. The others?
“What kind of writing? I have no idea,” said Justin. “I went in there and was looking for stuff wondering if I could find something like that. I was looking in the book, closed the book, opened it back up and there it was. That was crazy. Destiny. So I got it right before I came out here.
“(My dad and uncle) told me to get the other one. It says ‘Jesus’ in Japanese. They paid for it. For all I know it could mean anything. It might mean, ‘Order No. 6 on the menu.’ ”
Airabin, Airius and their older sister, Staci, were raised in the Los Angeles area by their father and mother, Terri. Airabin was born in Inglewood and grew up in rough-and-tumble South Central L.A. before his parents divorced, when he and Airius moved to upper-scale Woodland Hills with Sidney and their stepmother, Mori.
Airabin’s athleticism earned him a scholarship at the University of Utah, where he was starting until suffering a sprained ankle during his junior season. Upset about losing his starting spot while injured, Airabin transferred to Northern Arizona for his senior season, had tryouts with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams and Baltimore Ravens in 2003 and signed with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2004.
After three seasons in the CFL’s basement, Airabin Justin left Hamilton as a free agent. Saskatchewan wanted veteran DBs to replace departed free agents Omarr Morgan and Davin Bush.
“He’s played the strong side and the weak side,” said Riders defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall. “I’ll throw some junk defences out there and he plays them. He’s buying into what we’re trying to do and works on what needs improvement. I knew he was a good football player and each week he’s getting more comfortable.”
Through six games and heading into Friday’s contest against the home-town Toronto Argonauts, Saskatchewan’s defence leads the CFL in points allowed (101), yards surrendered (250 per game) and is second to Toronto for the CFL’s best passing defence (230 yards per game, 19 more than Toronto).
Playing in a secondary that has nobody with more than one full season as a starter — because veteran Eddie Davis is out with an injury — Justin has recorded 13 defensive tackles and two interceptions, including a late-game drive-snuffer in Thursday’s 21-9 victory over the B.C. Lions.
“I was telling Tad yesterday, I don’t want to be anywhere other than here,” said Justin, who is rooming with another Ti-Cats castoff, Tad Kornegay. “I don’t even know who the guys are in Hamilton anymore. It’s a whole new team for the most part. It’s crazy, but it’s been better for all of us coming over here. It’s like paradise compared to over there …
“We’re new here. At the same time it’s a team game. Fortunately for us, we’re all new with the same agenda: We want to be the best.”
NOTES: Val St. Germain, a first overall draft choice in 1994, practised with the team Tuesday. An insurance policy for guard Wayne Smith, who has been bothered by a sore back, St. Germain could play Friday, according to head coach Kent Austin. St. Germain’s acquisition gives the Riders four former No. 1 draft choices on their roster — defensive tackle Scott Schultz (2001 by Saskatchewan); Smith (2004 by Hamilton); and defensive end Tim Fleiszer (1998 by Hamilton).
