THE CANADIAN PRESS
MISSISSAUGA — When Byron Parker steps on to the field to face the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division final Sunday, he’ll be playing for more than the other 41 players in uniform for the Toronto Argonauts.
He’ll also be driven to excel for a fallen teammate like cornerback Willie Middlebrooks (career-threatening neck injury) and another like defensive back Alphonso Hodge, a practice-roster player who works hard all week with the club but doesn’t dress for a game.
“It’s for everyone, the guys who aren’t playing,” Parker said.
“We want to win not only for us but for them.
“They’re our brothers, they’re our teammates. They come out here and sweat and have been here since June and we want to go out and win the game for them.”
An emotional Parker, tears streaming down his face, dedicated Toronto’s 16-13 win Sunday over Hamilton in the East Division semifinal to Middlebrooks, 31, a former NFL first-round draft pick who been one of the Argos’ starting cornerbacks the last three seasons.
“I was emotional because every time I think about Willie’s situation . . . you always want to be able to go out on your own terms,” Parker said. “You think about someone who is as passionate as he is about the game and it makes me emotional about that because I feel bad for him.”
Especially, the 29-year-old Parker said, because football has always been a big part of Middlebrooks’ life whereas basketball was Parker’s first love. He took up football after initially enrolling at Tulane on a basketball scholarship and capturing the 2003 NCAA slam dunk title.
The six-foot-two, 204-pound Middlebrooks attended the University of Minnesota on a football scholarship. He was selected in the first round, 24th overall, by Denver in the 2001 NFL draft and spent five years with the Broncos and another with San Francisco before leaving football. He returned in 2008 with Toronto and immediately cracked the CFL club’s starting lineup.
“The way I came into playing, I probably didn’t deserve it (pro
career) as much as he does,” said Parker. “He’s been doing this his whole life while this is just my sixth year playing football overall.
“When you put it into that perspective, I’m happy and I’m blessed to be in the situation I am. But at the same time I really feel badly for him.”
The nature of Middlebrooks’ injury has also driven home to Parker just how fragile a pro career is and how quickly it can be taken away.
“You never know,” Parker said. “They always say you’re only one play away and that’s true, you just never know when your time has come and your career can be over due to injury.
“I consider Willie a brother of mine and I love him to death and I just go out here and play for him.”
But Parker said a player can’t afford to think about the risks when he’s on the field.
“At the end of the day this is something we’ve decided to do,”
he said. “We go out here and do it full speed.
“I love playing football but you can get hurt doing anything, anytime. I don’t think about it when I’m playing.”