TMI: What is Courtney Stephen’s pre-game routine?
Before Courtney Stephen hit the field last week (and every other week for that matter) he tied his shoes the exact same way he always does.
He tied them and tucked the bows in the laces down the front of his shoes. And then just before he hit the field he ate his favourite candy. Maybe it was Swedish Berries. Or perhaps he had a handful of skittles.
Courtney did the exact same thing he always does before the game but during? He did something a little different.
When Ottawa’s Brett Maher attempted a convert kick early in the fourth quarter, it was blocked by Jay Langa and Courtney scooped it up and ran all the way down to the end zone to add two points to his team’s score.
That added some momentum for the Tabbies as Brandon Banks scored a touchdown on their very next possession.
But when Courtney isn’t on the field, what does he like to do? I can tell you he’s really into social media. He has a blog, a podcast and he’s been dominating the Instagram game.
He also wants a former teammate to join him on a deserted island and did you know that the Tiger-Cats locker room LOVES board games?
Find out more about Courtney Stephen in this edition of TMI!
Kristina Costabile: Tell me something that fans might not know about you.
Courtney Stephen: I would say that I have a hidden talent that not too many people know about. I’m pretty good at juggling. I think I learned it from my mom but then when I told my mom, ‘hey mom, remember that time when you taught me how to juggle in the kitchen?’ She has no idea that this ever happened. So now I’m thinking, ‘did I teach myself some kind of weird way?’ I think that’s my hidden talent, my little fun fact. Other than that, I’m pretty much just a nerd. I love to read books. I spend most of my time plotting how I can take over the world.
KC: Do you have any plans to do that?
CS: Well if I told you.. well, you know how the saying goes. I’m working on right now just having fun with it and making sure that I just inspire other people to do their thing as much as possible through my various efforts. Some of them more serious than others but mostly I just like to have fun with this football thing. I just got Instagram (Editors note: this was at the time of my chat with Courtney which was back in May during training camp) so that’s kind of fun. It’s a great way for me to interact with people more one-to-one. I like doing that and in some weird way that’s me trying to take over the world just by meeting more people and hearing their stories and telling them mine.
KC: Okay, going back to this juggling thing.. how did this come about?
CS: I’m pretty sure it was around Christmas time because we had those little clementine oranges and that’s the perfect thing to juggle because they’re not fragile and you can fit like two of them in your hand at once. I think that’s where you want to begin your juggling. You don’t want to start out right away with the daggers and the flaming torches or the bowling pins. I don’t remember any of the details, obviously..
KC: Other than planning to take over the world and juggling, what do you like to do in your free time?
CS: Recently I started getting into cooking more with my wife. I just got married not too long ago. I don’t really know how to cook.. at all. I think that’s why it’s fun because I love a challenge. So that’s one thing we’ve been learning and experimenting together. I’m uber competitive, like super competitive so I used to play video games way too much and I kinda went to video game rehab. I took a vacation, we went away and I was away from my Xbox and I went through my withdrawals. When I came back I kind of decided I would never do that again. So in the absence of my Xbox, I’ve been reading a tonne of books. I like to write a little bit. I’ve experimented with some blogging, I’m starting a podcast (Editors note: you can check out Courtney’s blog here and his podcast here). I’m just all over the place, I just like dabbling. I’m so serious with football that I like a few things that I can have fun with.
KC: What is on your pregame playlist?
CS: People are not going to believe it though because I listen to slow music as I get close to the game because I feel like it helps me clear my mind and really focus in. When I’m warming up, probably two hours before the game, I have some hype tracks. I’ve got some ASAP Ferg. I’ve got some Gucci Mane of course. Travis Scott. Future, Meek Mill. But then as we get close to game time, it changes up a little bit. I’ve got Jimmy Hendrix, Audioslave. What You Won’t Do for Love by Bobby Caldwell. That’s like my number one song, it’s my most played on my Spotify. Weston Road Flows by Drake, definitely.
KC: If you could be stranded on a deserted island, which one of your teammates would you bring with you?
CS: If this was last year, I would have brought Drake Nevis because he’s the best chef on the whole team but he’s in Winnipeg now so I can’t bring him anymore. I miss those meals! I would probably bring Andy Fantuz because he always stays with at least two to three board games. Settlers of Catan or Monopoly are always going down in the locker room. We really game hard over there in the Ticats locker room.
KC: What are three things that you would bring with you to that island?
CS: Definitely bringing Wifi, no questions asked. I’m bringing my Kindle and I’m probably bringing a foam roller. I don’t want to go back to the Xbox thing. My brain will melt.
Stephen poses with a picture of his family as a part of the CFL’s Diversity is Strength photo series (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
KC: If you weren’t a football player, what would you be doing?
CS: Fashion or music. 100%. I always wanted to make a clothing brand and design clothes. The thing is, I can’t sew. I can sew a little bit but not like a real seamstress. I grew up big time in skate fashion. Those big branded t-shirts and hoodies and lifestyle clothes. It wasn’t like designer, high-end it was more every day type stuff. Or I could have been a sound engineer. I don’t like being in front of a big group of people so I wouldn’t have been the musician but I would have been the person behind the musician who actually makes it happen.
KC: What is your favourite football memory?
CS: When I walked on at Northern Illinois and I earned my scholarship after a full year on the practice team. That red shirt season where I had no scholarship and then before the spring game my coach went up to the front of the room to address the team and tell everybody the announcements for the day before we were going to have our annual spring game and he just started off by saying, ‘today, Courtney Stephen I’m going to put you on scholarship.’ That was probably the most proud moment of my life. And the crazy thing was my family was there to see it too. It was big. I left Canada in a really good situation at Wilfrid Laurier. It was amazing and I had a tonne of friends there but I was in pursuit of something that I wanted to do as a young kid. Then to see it all pan out and just to know what I went through to get there and all the risks I took and the sacrifices I made.
KC: Do you have any superstitions or routines before a game?
CS: I’m superstitious. Every single time I tie my shoes, I tie my shoes the same way. I’ll tie them and then I’ll tuck both bows down the shoe laces in the front. I do that every time. It’s not a big thing but it’s a thing that I always do. I always eat a huge breakfast the day of the game. It’s usually the same thing but if I can’t get it, it’s not a big deal. And then right before the game, I’ll usually either chew gum or eat candy. In college, we used to eat Swedish Fish, those were the bomb. Now a days it’s more like Skittles or Swedish Berries. I used to be superstitious about wearing pink because the first time I wore pink in October, I tore my ACL. I’ve gotten over it though because it’s such a great cause that I really want to support it. So now I just wear a little bit of pink.
KC: Are you binge watching anything on Netflix?
CS: I watched that sugar documentary.. I can’t remember what it’s called.. (Editors note: It’s called Sugar Coated.) It will ruin your life. I’ll just warn you right now. Watch that movie with a bag of chips, a sandwich, your favourite fruit drink and whatever else has sugar in it because after you watch that movie, you’re going to not want to have anything.
KC: If you could have any super power, what would it be?
CS: Not needing to sleep. Because I get anxiety when it’s time to sleep. I wish I never got tired because there’s never enough time in the day. I optimize a lot of days and still come up short. For me, I work tirelessly to the point where it’s like I need to recover so much because I’ve gone on a bender of 18-hour focus and now I’m just completely spent. If I didn’t need to take a break, that would defeat that problem.
