BCLions.com
“Wow that was quick.”
That was the immediate reaction I imagine most people had after Jason Arakgi tackled Calgary’s Tory Harrison, setting the all-time career special teams tackles record. On the micro level, that makes sense as Arakgi wasted no time setting the record just six seconds into the Lions/Stampeders game. But if you take a step back and consider his career, this milestone was the exact opposite of fast.
According to Benefits Canada, the average length of a CFL player’s career is 3.2 years. Last season the average age of a CFL player was 27.2 years and the average career length to kick off the 2015 season was 2.62 seasons. Now look at Jason who made his first tackle in June of 2008 — how many of you who are reading this are in the same job that you were in eight years ago? This record is more than just his ability to track down slithery returners or read blocking schemes; it’s about beating the odds. How many players are still plying their trade nine years after they started?
I went to his Wikipedia page and found that there were only 91 words written about Jason Arakgi; that doesn’t feel like nearly enough. So in honour of a man who broke a small record that in its own way is damn impressive, I wanted to try and learn a little bit more about the man nicknamed “Mr. Mancouver” (More on that later).
1. The dude is fun!
I have never met Jason before but he is the kind of guy you want to have a drink with. The BC Lions have a video segment entitled ‘This or That’ with a young girl interviewing players about the lighter side of life. You won’t find a detailed breakdown of coverage schemes but you will find out that Jason prefers waffles over pancakes (that is the correct answer, I will not debate this). Now in one of these videos Jason is debating with Ryan Phillips over who is better: Superman or Batman. This is a pretty standard debate, especially among young men, but it was Jason’s answers as to why Superman is the superior superhero that were anything but typical. Consider these pearls of knowledge:
“If the stock market crashes Batman is in a heck of a lot of trouble. He’s in a lot of trouble if he loses all his money.”
“If Batman drank he would get hungover”
“Batman had a knee brace in his last movie”
I mean there was some genuine comedy and logic coming from Jason. I know this may feel like a small thing, but you can sometimes tell a lot about a person just by watching them interact with one of their friends and Jason seems like a guy you could have a hilarious time with. Whenever they retire, the CFL or TSN would be smart to develop a ‘Pardon The Interruption’ type of show for Ryan and Jason.
2. He makes furniture from scratch and he doesn’t have any formal training!
I caught this piece on Global News about how Jason fell into wood working. I’m starting to think Jason could be the next Dos Equis ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ pitchman with shots of him tackling Brandon Banks and the next moment he is making intricate shelving units. I do wonder how Wally Buono feels watching his special teams ace working so closing with a table saw …. That blade is really close to his fingers!
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Jason Arakgi moved into No. 1 all-time on the special teams tackles list (David Chidley/CFL.ca)
3. You have to appreciate his outlook on his place in the game.
I love Jason’s recent quote about the tackles record:
“I’d trade all those tackles for more starts as a linebacker — even the record. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean that in a bad way. But that’s what’s helped me be good at special teams. I always feel as if I have a chip on my shoulder. I always feel I have something to prove. That’s kept complacency from setting in. That’s kept me going.”
I appreciate the honesty here. As much as we strive to be transparent, we all lie — not just to others but more often to ourselves. We all understand the hierarchy on any football team; it starts with the quarterback and works its way down. At the bottom are special teams. Please don’t take that as disrespect, we’ve all seen plenty of important games swung on a couple special teams plays but ask any player what they would rather be — a full time starter as a linebacker or a special teams star — and I think you know what the answer would be.
By saying he would sacrifice the record for a regular defensive starting gig, Jason is acknowledging the simple truth about where he belongs in the football world without any trace of bitterness or resentment. I wonder how many players would make such admission; how many would say they are perfectly content playing over 140 games at such an unglamourous and overlooked position. I admire that he sounds like he is at peace with himself; that level of self awareness is no easy feat.
4. He did not go for an easy major in University.
At McMaster, Jason majored in Anthropology. I had several friends who played university football in Ontario and back then (mid 1990’s) the easiest major was Communications. It was so rampant that even the Simpsons poked fun at football players that took this path. Now as someone who had a double major in Theatre and History I’m not exactly a bastion of higher education, but even I recognize that Anthropology is a more difficult degree than Communications.
5. Jason has destroyed all video evidence of a 2010 male pageant.
If you go on his twitter account (@jrak45) you will see that the first two words in his bio read “mr mancouver”. It took a lot of digging before I found this quote event: “It was a little embarrassing, because it was a fashion show, but I actually think that because I played football, it helped. They didn’t think I was as fancy as the other guys. Some of them really took it seriously, like wearing Speedos, and I just wore shorts. I had to keep face a little bit. I won and the guys on the team just took it and now I’m just known as Mr. Mancouver. Even the coaches call me Mancouver.”
I spent the better part of Sunday trying to find any video of this pageant but I came up empty. I love the idea of Jason strolling around practice being called “Mr. Mancouver”.
Now I recognize that this is just a surface look at who Jason is as a player and as a person. Scrolling though his social media you get the snapshot of someone who loves his family, loves his teammates and generally loves life. Yes, it is a small record in the grander scheme of the game, but it is a perfect reflection of the sort of dedication, work ethic and mental aptitude needed to grind through such a physical job for nearly a decade to hit tackle number 185. Congratulations Jason, you deserve it.
