March 19, 2018

Stamps’ Singleton ready to become a leader

Johany Jutras/CFL.ca

The rootlessness, the transience, the uncertainty. They can wear on a man as ruthlessly, as insidiously, as facing a double-team on every snap of the ball.

“Bouncing around the NFL,’’ Alex Singleton is recalling, “doing that whole thing … well, it’s no fun, let me tell you.

“I knew when I got here I didn’t want to do that anymore.

“Oh, man, I worked out for 13 (NFL) teams, was on three more and none of them for longer than a month. To say I bounced around, a bunch, would be an understatement.

“Living out of a suitcase, in hotels, all the time is … hard.

“It wears on you.

“And I’m from a small school. I wasn’t like I went to a Miami or an Alabama, so when I showed up somewhere in the NFL I already knew five guys on the team.

“When I showed up, I knew me.

“Everywhere I went, not only did I have to learn a new playbook, I had to meet new people. Literally, it’s like going to a new school in a new country where you didn’t speak the language – every single week.

“By the time I did get to know people, I was on my way somewhere else.

“It was awful.”

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Alex Singleton had 123 tackles in his second CFL season with the Stampeders (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

Over those stops, things never reached a ‘What in blazes am I doing?’ point, a fish-or-cut-bait moment. The game meant too much, the desire to continue too deep inside, for a drastic change in mindset.

Somewhere, Singleton kept telling himself, there was a place to unpack, to set up shop, to put down those roots he sought.

He found his somewhere May 17, 2016.

“That’s why when I got here I signed a 2-and-1, instead of a 1-and-1,’’ explains the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Defensive Player. “I wanted the security of having a home, an actual training base, instead of every other month, every other week, living somewhere else, somewhere unfamiliar, starting all over again.

“And it’s been perfect.”

In second off-season as a member of the Calgary community, the Stampeders’ touchstone middle linebacker has settled into the rhythm of the city as seamlessly as he settled in behind the defensive front.

“You know what makes this place great? The people. I know you hear that all the time, about a lot of places, but here it’s true. Everyone’s so friendly. Doesn’t take long to feel at home in Calgary.

“I do all the volunteer stuff, the Special Olympics stuff, and meet amazing people, all the time.

“That makes it feel like home right away.”

Not even the winters, the snow dumps, can dissuade a California dude from Thousand Oaks to head back home come the off-season.

“Snow’s snow. Whatever. Remember, I went to school at Montana State. Know what’s most important? Sun. That hasn’t been taken away from me. That’s always the best part of anywhere. Sun. Blue sky. There’s a lot of that here.

“I’ve been places where it’s gloomy and they are not nice places to live.

“This is a nice place to live. There are snow days, but there aren’t many bad days.”

“I thought I should’ve been there (the NFL) but didn’t get to play. Now I get to play. Now I get to do what I love. You enjoy some success and lot of people start asking ‘When are you going to leave?’ And I’m like: ‘Leave?'”

Stamps linebacker Alex Singleton

This off-season, in an effort to be even more prepared come training camp, Singleton and quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell have hooked up with a personal trainer, Tim Neenan, recommended to the pair by Miranda Sallis over at the Canadian Sports Institute.

“We work out seven days a week. Together,’’ he reports, firing off a good-natured salvo at his QB and close friend, just returning from a month working out in Kailua-Kona. “I’m not in Hawaii, like some people.

“I’m actually with the trainer, not on some beach jogging, my hair flowing in the wind, swimming with the dolphins. Like some people.

“Our trainer, he’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. We’ve done a ton of speed workouts so I’m getting faster. A ton of in-the-gym workouts. A lot of stretching. A big focus on warming up and cooling down.

“So this has been everything I’ve wanted.”

In the wake of a franchise-record 123-tackle, West Division and CFL all-star season, Singleton has become, at 24, the standard for all other defenders generally – and all other linebackers specifically – to aspire to.

Despite the numbers, the accolades, the hardware, those two falls at the final hurdle have only served to whet his appetite.

“What do I want to improve on? Everything. Now that I know the system, know the teams we’re playing, understand the CFL better after two years here, I should be better.

“Don’t just be part of the game. Make it my game. No flaws. Take that first step faster, make my back-pedal faster, make plays on the ball faster. I’ve played against every quarterback in the league twice now, most four to six times. So there’s no one I’m not used to seeing.

“And I want to be more of a leader. We lost some guys this off-season, whether through trade, retirement or stepping up to be coaches. Obviously the team’s going to be a lot younger.

“This is professional football. Change is a part of the game. You’re paid to play the game so there shouldn’t be any drop-off.”

Settled, the days of transience, of living week-to-week in hotels and out of a suitcase, are passed. He somewhere he feels a sense of professional and personal belonging.

“Look, I love Calgary,’’ repeats Singleton. “That’s why I’ve chosen to stay here, to live here, to set up my life here.

“Everything I’ve wanted as a professional has happened – here. How many people get to say they were voted the best defensive player – in any league?

“I thought I should’ve been there (the NFL) but didn’t get to play. Now I get to play. Now I get to do what I love.

“You enjoy some success and lot of people start asking: ‘When are you going to leave?” And I’m like: “Leave?”

“Why? What for?

“I’m already living the dream.”