By: Mark Dewit
Offensive Lineman, Toronto Argonauts
A graduate of the Calgary Dinos program, Mark just completed his first season with the Argonauts after being drafted in the 6th round, 42nd overall by Toronto in the 2008 CFL Draft. The promising 22 year old played all 18 games with two starts, both at left guard and both against his hometown Calgary Stampeders.
In a three-part series, Mark describes the ups and downs of his first season of professional football in Toronto in “Road to the CFL”.
PART I:
Ever since I can remember, I have been a CFL fan. Football has always been a way of life in my household. I still remember watching CFL games on Friday nights and how Sundays were reserved for Church in the morning and, as soon as that was done, NFL football for the rest of the day. This started my life long love of football.
Unlike most kids these days, I didn’t start playing tackle football until high school. My younger years in sport consisted of playing soccer, baseball, competitive swimming, volleyball and flag football. I remember walking through the halls of Bishop Carroll High School in Calgary, Alberta on one of my first days of grade 10 and going into the locker room for my first ever tackle football practice. Having heard stories of my father’s football playing days at Bishop Carroll High School, as well as at Weber State in Utah, I knew that football was for me. After about 45 minutes of trying to figure out which way my shoulder pads went on, where all my little pads went and how to feed a belt through a pair of football pants, I was ready for my first practice. Three years later, I was off to the University of Calgary to continue my football career with the Dinos.
I played with the Dinos for four years. In those four years I played four different positions. Although I had played primarily on the offensive line in high school, I started my career with the Dino’s as a redshirt defensive end. This meant that I only got to practice with the team and not dress for any games. In my second year with the team, I started half of the season at defensive tackle. After my second season Blake Nill was hired as our head coach. Coach Nill made the decision to switch me over to the offensive line. In hindsight, this decision turned out to be for the best as I proved to be a much more natural offensive lineman than defensive lineman. My third year with the Dinos was spent playing left guard and learning the finer points of offensive line play from former CFL player turned offensive line coach for the University of Calgary, Rohn Meyer. After my third year was over, I finally started to think that I might have a legitimate chance at playing in the CFL.
In the spring of 2007, I was chosen to play in the annual East-West game in Quebec City. This was very exciting for me as I knew it would be a great opportunity to showcase my talent in front of all the CFL coaches and scouts. During the game, similar to my career with the Dinos, I played three different positions. I played the second quarter at right tackle, at centre during the third quarter and the fourth quarter at left tackle. My West team ended up winning by three points in the fifth overtime! This was, by far, the longest game I ever played in but definitely one of the most entertaining.
The year I was eligible for the CFL draft was my fourth year of university. This year would be my most important football year to date as it would determine if I got drafted and would be given a chance to further my career once more. Once again, I changed positions. I played left tackle on what would end up being the best offensive line I played with in university. My offensive line mates included: Dave Maltman, a 5th year starter, Tim O’Neill, who is now playing with the Calgary Stampeders, Reed Alexander, and Dylon Steenbergen, who is one of the top rated prospects in this year’s CFL draft.
The season started off pretty rocky for our team. We lost four of our first five games and were in danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Our season turned around in a hurry after a game-winning 52-yard field goal with no time left against the Saskatchewan Huskies. We ended up winning our last two games and made the playoffs for the first time in my CIS career. The joys of our three game win streak quickly ended, however, as we lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual Vanier Cup champion Manitoba Bison’s. Although our team led the country in rushing yards, it was still disappointing to be eliminated from the playoffs so early.
A few weeks after the season I learned that I had been named to the Canada West all-star team at tackle. This was the first time in my university career I had been named an all-star and it was a very exciting day in my life. I hoped that it would get some CFL scouts to start looking more closely at me.
Here is where my story gets very different from most CFL prospects. In my second, third and fourth years of university, as well as being on the varsity football team, I was also on the varsity wrestling team. Two major athletic events I had been aiming toward were scheduled two weeks apart in March of 2008. So while most draft prospects were focusing their training to get ready for the CFL combine, I had to split my time to train for both the combine and for the CIS national wrestling championship. These two major athletic events I had been aiming toward were scheduled only two weeks apart in March of 2008. March 1 and 2 would be the wresting meet in Calgary and the combine would be in Toronto on March 14 to 16.
From January to March I trained as hard as I had ever trained in my life. Every morning at 8:00 a.m., I was working out with the football team in a grueling offseason weight training program. Along with this weight room training, I was also at wrestling practice for two hours a day, five days a week. Somewhere in-between all of this training, I managed to also complete four university credits towards my Bachelor of Commerce degree.
After two months of hard work, it was time to see if all my training had paid off. The month of March was one of the most important months of my athletic life. I qualified for the CIS wrestling championship by placing 2nd in Canada West. This meant that myself, as well as seven other heavyweight wrestlers from across the country would be competing for the university national championship. To the surprise of everyone, including me, I ended up winning all four of my matches in the tournament and won my first national championship. This was probably my best athletic achievement so far in my life and it was even better knowing that it was my last wrestling tournament ever. Earlier in the year I had decided that it would be my last season so I could concentrate on my football career.
Two weeks after my gold medal performance, I was off to the CFL combine. This turned out to be the most stressful weekend of my life. I will always remember lying down on the bench to get ready for the bench press – EVERY CFL coach and scout surrounded me. Needless to say, this jump-started my nerves and they continued for the entire weekend. After the combine was over, I felt kind of discouraged with my performance. I had tested near the top of every test but in the positional drills on the last day, I did not perform my best. I was concerned that I had just let my CFL dream slip away.
As draft day approached I was getting more and more nervous. Draft day was a day I will never forget. It turned out that I had a final exam scheduled for right in the middle of the CFL draft. April 30 started with me waking up and doing some last minute cramming for my sociology exam. I then watched the first round of the draft on TV and then quickly drove across the city to the university, wrote my sociology exam in 30 minutes and then drove home in time for the fifth round of the draft. As the fifth round neared its completion, my mom, dad and I were all sitting at different computers clicking refresh. As the sixth round started, we noticed that Toronto had three draft picks in that round. My dad mentioned that, “Toronto would be a good place to get drafted to,” and just as he said it, my name popped up on my computer beside the Toronto Argonauts 42nd overall pick. I was ecstatic; I knew my CFL dream would soon be starting.
Stay linked to Argonauts.ca over over the next week to see parts 2 & 3 of Mark’s ‘Road to the CFL!’
Previous editions of ‘Road to the CFL’ – Bryan Crawford (2005) Part 1 | Part 2, Brian Ramsay (2007) Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3