Mark Masters
CFL.ca
Tristan Black recalls going to his first Canadian Football League game, seeing Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive end Joe Montford and thinking that is the kind of football player he would want to be.
“I remember seeing him and the guy was an animal,” said Black. “I saw him with his shirt off and he was huge. The guys gave him respect and I thought that’s what I want in my career.”
Black’s quest to follow in Montford’s large footsteps will continue next month when he takes part in the CFL Evaluation Camp. Black enters the event projected to be taken in the first round of this year’s CFL draft. The 6-foot-3, 243-pound linebacker from Toronto said he is happy to be considered among the best players entering the event.
“Sure there’s a little pressure, but I work best under pressure. It’s also a motivation. If they say I’m that good then there must be something to it, you know,” said Black. “I want to show everyone why I’m projected to go so high.”
Then again you probably shouldn’t expect to hear about nerves from a man who says if a career on the gridiron doesn’t work out he’ll turn his attention to fighting fires.
“That’s something that could get me up in the mornings … knowing that I’m dealing with life and death experiences. I have a saying, ‘If you’re not living on the edge then you’re taking up space.’ Being a firefighter requires athleticism and teamwork just like football and it’s something where I could help people.”
But, make no mistake, fire fighting will have to wait. Black is determined to be playing in the CFL for the foreseeable future.
Black, who will turn 25 in April, earned good reviews during his collegiate career spent at Wayne State. He started 25 games in his first three seasons at the Detroit-based school, which plays out of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA second division).
“I realized it’s not just a game when I came down here,” said Black, who spent one season at Saginaw Valley in 2005. “They put a lot more into their athletics in the States and it’s people’s lives. I wanted to do well for my coaches and teammates because there was so much riding on it.”
Black proved his worth on the field. In 2008, while serving as a team captain, Black was voted to the all-conference second team and received Wayne State’s Ultimate Warrior award for outstanding work in the weight room.
But it was in Canada where he first honed his skills by playing high school football at the Central Tech Institute and in a summer league for the Scarborough Thunder. He also attended Vanier Prep in Montreal before heading to Wayne State.
“My mother was the one who first signed me up and she would drive me to practices and games, but I’m not sure she ever knew it would go this far,” Black said.
It appears football runs in the family as Black’s younger brother, Everton, plays for the University of Manitoba Bisons.
“He’ll be in the CFL one day, trust me, he’ll be on your [draft] board next year,” said Black. “He put up some great numbers this year as a sophomore.”
Black said playing with his brother in the CFL is his ideal future situation.
“That would be crazy,” he said. “Going to practices together, watching game film together … that would be a dream.”
Black knows for that dream to come true he first has to impress at Evaluation Camp. He’s hoping his age and maturity will ensure he meets that challenge.
“I’ve been playing for 13 years now and I think leadership is a factor and without me even trying that gives me an upper hand because I have more wisdom and maturity than some of the other guys. In some ways I’m a different generation and it’s not going to be a shocking experience for me.
“I’m not going into this bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”
Mark Masters i
s a freelance writer living in Toronto. He has written about the Canadian Football League in the National Post, Enterprise magazine and the Toronto Argonauts game-day program.
