THE CANADIAN PRESS
If James Rodgers, the Als’ little big man on special teams, has to be held out of Sunday’s East Semi-Final because of post-concussion symptoms, it may be that bigger forces are at play. Greater powers at work could yet set off big plays from an likely source.
Mardy Gilyard has good karma in his heart. He’s even got mystical power in his hair.
And he’s even better luck when he’s running with a football.
“My son just won a Super Bowl,” says the 2010 NFL fourth round pick of the Rams. “He’s pushing ‘Pops’ to make sure I bring me something home.”
Gilyard’s boy G’moni, age seven, went 8-1 in little league football this season, breezing through the playoffs.
“He’s a Super Bowl champ right now,” chuckles Mardy, who breezed through St. Louis, New York (Jets) , Philly, New York (Jets again) and the Kansas City Chiefs before finding a football home in Montreal last fall only to fall onto the injured list.
“I go to the gym, G’moni wants to go to the gym; I go work out, he wants to go work out. He wants to run the ladder with me. He wakes up and says ‘Dad have you done pushups and situps yet?’ I’m a blessed father to have a son who just wants to be around Daddy.”
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Daughter Ma’Laya (he calls her “his twin”) is only two, but has helped inspire Daddy immensely as well.
“My son and my daughter, they kept me happy through the whole thing,” he admits. “They’re in Cincinatti with their Mom. I Facetime them almost every day. The Lady, my Mom, my teammates all kept me positive. That’s when you find out if you have good teammates.”
The “whole thing” was yet another cursed injury, early in his one and only start of 2014.
After gaining 16 yards on his first two touches against the Argos, Gilyard was running a slant against former Alouette Dwight Anderson.
“We both got stuck, I torqued my body around and of course the whole leg went limp. I thought I tore everything right off the bone,” Mardy recalls through an easy smile about his latest in a long series of painful moments as a pro.
It was a partial hamstring tear, another “blessing” Mardy calls it.
General Manager Jim Popp has been patient before.
“We brought him in last fall and he got hurt, then he ends up getting hurt again after finally getting on the roster,” says the talent-hunter who’d been hoping Gilyard’s wiry build might see him slip through the NFL radar after becoming the second-rated returner his draft eligible year.
“He’s got sudden quickness, make him miss you,” Popp says of the former Cincinatti Bearcat prime target for Zach Collaros, who waits and wonders if he’ll face his old teammate in the Eastern Final.
“He’s a pest on the edge, a competitor blocking who stays on you, stays after you,” raves Popp. “If healthy, he has the skill level to be a starter. We had high prospects for him.”
Some of that warrior mentality has a unique source hidden in plain sight. Gilyard’s long braids are studded with seashells that carry special powers.
“I met a woman from Ghana who told me about a warrior who every time he went off to war and killed for his tribe, they presented him with shells,” Gilyard attests.
“Being from the beach, I used to always go collect shells with my friends and I would even use bottle caps in my hair during college,” says the native of Daytona
Beach, Florida.
“Then I started missing home, so I started using more shells and than just ran with the Ghanaian warrior beads. It’s like a warzone out there on the field.”
This warrior issues a warning: “There are certain unwritten rules in football and fighting. As a man you shouldn’t pull another man’s hair. Of course, if a man’s hair gets tugged and pulled, they’re just trying to do a job on the other side.”
All within CFL rules.
Kick returners need speed, determination, luck and a sixth sense. Gilyard appears to have all those things. He would be the Als’ sixth punt and kickoff returner used this season.
“I’m running fearlessly, being able to burst and change direction,” says Mardy. “And I have great teammates — every guy would stick their head in to the training room when I was hurt. ‘Sass’ and his crew (longtime Als’ athletic therapist Rodney Sassi) have me 110 per cent — I don’t even think about the leg when I’m running.”
If the seashell spirits and the football Gods are willing, Mardy can match his boy, who scored on a run of 80-plus yards for a touchdown enroute to his “Super Bowl” championship.
Here’s to ‘Like Father, Like Son’, Als fans. Get that boy G’Moni some bottle caps and seashells.
