WATCH ABOVE: Lisa MacGregor explains how a local cowboy’s strong tie to the rodeo, has helped him build a career in the CFL as a Montreal Allouettes linebacker.
CALGARY – For many Albertans, rodeo is a sport that has been passed down from generation to generation. For one local cowboy, that strong tie is what helped him become a professional athlete in another rough-and-tumble sport.
Bryn Roy grew up in Dalemead, Alberta with a rope in one hand and a football in the other.
The 27-year old rodeo cowboy-turned-CFL-football-player for the Montreal Alouettes says steer wrestling and linebacking go hand in hand.
“I’m the predator, I’m seeking the ball carrier. It’s man versus man. In the arena, it’s man versus beast,” he said.
Roy says steer wrestlers are the linebackers of the rodeo.
“You’re always trying to beat the clock in rodeo and you’re always trying to beat the man in front of you in football. And so, it’s made a competitor out of me,” he said.
His dad, Mark Roy, is a world rodeo champion, and said his son has always been determined to succeed.
“It didn’t matter what he was doing–he liked to be first, or close to it,” Mark Roy said.
Growing up, Bryn and his younger brother Denver – who got his name after his father missed the Denver rodeo one year – grew up playing two-touch football in the backyard or on the road in Texas. After the game was done, they’d often go wrestle steers.
“I don’t know if I’d want to be on a football field when he straps that helmet on,” said Denver. “He gets pretty mean.”
But the younger sibling says it’s exciting watching his brother on the field in front of thousands of fans.
“It’s awesome. Especially when you get to see him steamroll somebody out on the field, you get to point and laugh and say, ‘You just got Roy’d.”
And so, the Roys have made the transition from a rodeo family to a football family.
“I went from a kid that came from just such a tight community–as far as rodeo went–and all of a sudden, here I was, a walk-on 2,500 miles from home without family or friends,” Roy said.
Stepping out of his comfort zone paid off in 2012 at training camp and this year, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Alouettes. It means family time is no longer spent in a horse trailer following the rodeo.
“Well it’s football on Friday night now,” Roy’s dad said with a laugh.
The cowboy can take down his opponent in the stadium or the arena, because his strength has always come from home.
“It’s been good to just be able to call home and talk to these people that know me so well, and I know them so well, and just have nothing but unconditional love for me,” Roy said.
Post-battle in both sports, Roy cools off at his country oasis. A small pond a few steps from his parents’ home is where he takes a dip if he doesn’t have access to a cold tub. His family calls it their “cowboy spa” or “cowboy cold tub”.
The CFL regular season starts on June 25th.
The Calgary Stampeders will face the Allouettes the following week in Montreal.
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