OTTAWA REDBLACKS
On a day when a rookie like Danny O’Brien should have been excited about finally getting his chance for some real playing time at quarterback, he and his Ottawa REDBLACKS teammates had real life issues at the forefront of their thoughts, joining an entire city and country in wondering about the scope of terrorist activities going on less than 10 kilometres away.
The REDBLACKS took to the practice field late Wednesday morning, just slightly an hour after a radicalized man opened fire and killed an innocent soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa.
Many of the almost dozen REDBLACKS who live in the downtown area would have passed near the scene of the shooting on their way up to TD Place for practice, some perhaps just moments before the shooting.
As police cars with sirens wailing sped past TD Place on Bank Street and practice wore on, the REDBLACKS had no way of even knowing the gunman had made his way to the bowels of Parliament before being gunned down by the Sergeant-at-Arms, who likely saved many more lives.
So when REDBLACKS head coach Rick Campbell whistled an end to practice to bring the players to midfield for his regular post-practice talk, the message had almost nothing to do with Friday’s upcoming game against the Montreal Alouettes and most everything to do with being safe and vigilant.
This was a sports day like none other in Ottawa history.
– A day when the home of the Ottawa Senators stayed dark on a game-night with their opposition, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in lockdown at a downtown hotel.
– A day when for several hours, downtown Ottawa remained in lockdown for fear other gunman may be involved in the shootings.
– A day when no-one was quite sure what the end result would be and when the shooting would finally end.
“It hasn’t affected us like it has other people in this city directly, but it’s not an ordinary day, that’s for sure,” said a subdued Campbell after addressing his own troops. “A lot of guys were asking about (the shooting) before practice. Their families are concerned for them and for people in Ottawa.”
The shootings affected just about everyone in Ottawa in some way or another, be it directly or through relatives of friends who either work or live in the downtown area.
O’Brien and slotback Khalil Paden, for example, share at apartment in the Byward Market area of town, not two kilometres from the shooting scenes and in an area in virtual lockdown until the early even hours.
Their thinking was they might try and travel east of the shootings, then work their way back to their apartment but that wasn’t their first concern.
Even though the pair have only been in Ottawa since late May, they’ve come to get a feeling of being part of the community.
And with the city in shock, the players couldn’t help but feel it.
“Coach Campbell said it best,” O’Brien said to reporters. “We’re all part of this community now.”
“I feel part of it. And obviously our prayers and thoughts are going out to everyone affected, and pray for the first responders, that they are handling it well. We know they are but tragedy is never expected.”
“You wonder what’s happening in terms of our safety, and (Campbell) kind of assured us that they were in close contact with everyone to where, if there had been a threat (at TD Place), we’d get off the field. It was certainly on our minds.”
Never has this reporter placed a call from a football practice like I had to Wednesday shortly after 11, telling his youngest daughter Krista, in her final year at the University of Ottawa, that she had to stay inside her downtown apartment until she heard an “all clear” from Ottawa Police.
She lives two blocks from the scene of the War Memorial shooting and could see ambulances lining up outside her apartment building in readiness should there be more victims.
That’s how crazy the city was in virtual lockdown in the downtown core. People strayed outside at their own risk and the risk wasn’t worth it.
During mid-day, reports of other shootings surfaced though they proved to be unfounded.
There were reports a second gunmen had been spotted speeding away on a motorcycle. Again, it proved false.
But there was no way of knowing at the time what was fact and what was pure speculation.
And back at TD Place, as practice went on as scheduled, those on the sidelines stayed close to the action via Twitter and bulletins.
Somehow the REDBLACKS’ 2-13 record was totally insignificant. As is Friday night’s game, the second last home game for 2014.
With the gunman dead and the investigation indicating at this point that he acted alone, the game is expected to go ahead as scheduled, though the entire incident will certainly be part of a pre-game tribute.
“This is a peaceful city,” said veteran quarterback Henry Burris, who has quickly come to know his way around every part of his new home, including the Prime Minister’s office. “People go to work, they do their daily jobs, and the fact somebody had to wake up (Wednesday) morning . . . It’s sad for them and their families, this entire city, that someone would do something like that.”
Reality setting in for Delahunt, Scott
By Thursday, the stark reality of a day that changed Ottawa forever was sinking in.
Players had watched news coverage all Wednesday evening and no one more so than local product John Delahunt.
“We are at war,” he said. “These are the times we live in.”
“Times have changed. The way wars are being fought now, there isn’t a true enemy that’s identifiable. I think it’s important that we stay true to our values as Canadians – diversity, acceptance and tolerance of all races and religious beliefs.”
“It was shock, just hoping that none of the family and friends were in that area.”
Kevin Scott got a first-hand feel of the tragedy. His mother, Deborah Scott, was downtown, working at Foreign Affairs.
“She let us know that everything was OK and the grounds were fully secured,” said Scott, another local on the REDBLACKS.
“There was so much confusion, so many bits of contradictory information. Not a lot of people knew exactly what was going on, so it was kind of scary.”
“I believe we’ve lost our innocence a bit. Because this is an event that’s occurred based on what’s gone on abroad, it’s new to Ottawa. Maybe we were a bit naive in a sense thinking that something like this wouldn’t happen here. And all of a sudden, it has.”
“Reports started coming out — you’re reading different accounts so you don’t know exactly 100% for sure what’s going on. All we knew was there was a major incident going on.”
“The coaches made sure they had it under control, keeping up to date with information and let us know if there was any inkling of anything that we were in danger, we’d be off the field immediately. They tried to reassure us, focus on football and we’ll focus on the rest.”
Through good times and bad, few personalities handle turmoil better than REDBLACKS head coach Rick Campbell.
He spoke to his players again Thursday about the shocking incident. And he has an insight as though he has lived in Ottawa all his life — not six months.
“Yesterday was not an ordinary day in the city,” said Campbell. “We have our thoughts and prayers with Nathan Cirillo and his family, we’re thinking about all the law enforcement and those people and our thoughts are with the people of Ottawa, but we’re excited to get out here, play a good football game and have some fun.”
“We always talk about how in football, you have to act like it’s the most important thing in the world because it’s such a competitive sport, but you have to realize that it really isn’t — that there are a lot more important things in the world.”
