WINNIPEG – The shooting death of Calgary Stampeders defensive back Mylan Hicks is hitting close to home for a few members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Bombers defensive back Johnny Adams was a teammate of Hicks at Michigan State in 2012, but the entire football fraternity has been affected.
“That could have been any one of us,” said an emotional Jamaal Westerman after practice Tuesday. “If we would have stayed the night, we could have been there too.”
Hicks, 23, was gunned down outside a Calgary nightclub early Sunday morning. The Bombers had just finished playing a game in Calgary only a few hours earlier.
RELATED: Stampeders remember teammate Mylan Hicks as team player with bright future
“I don’t know him, but it could have been any one of my teammates or any one of my friends,” said Westerman. “The guy is just trying to come for an opportunity, looking to play ball, looking to live out his dream. He’s no longer here so you just think about things like that, and really a lot of this stuff just seems so insignificant, because (he is) 23-years-old, coming to Canada to play football, to live out his dreams.”
RELATED: Calgary man charged in shooting death of Stampeder Mylan Hicks
With only nine teams, the CFL is a tight knit community and even though they were opponents on the field, Winnipeg players are still touched by the tragedy.
“At times things get testy but we’re still together,” Westerman said. “We still have a brotherhood, just as players. We know we battle back and forth in the game but at the end of the day man, you always want guys to do well. Stuff like that just makes you think. It kind of weighs on you because you know what his dreams were. They’re no different than my dreams, they’re no different than anybody in this locker rooms’ dreams.”
WATCH: Jamaal Westerman Interview
Comments