at McMahon Stadium, a great big kid,
a kid who had never played a down of
football in his life when he showed up
at Dobie’s door, was suddenly thrust
into the CIS spotlight. Not surprisingly,
people took notice.
“When he showed up, he was
obviously big and I knew immediately
he was a foreign student,” Dobie said.
“We talked for awhile and I sensed
right away that this was a great kid,
with a great heart who would put
everything he had into learning the
game.
20 / sportslife
“So I made him a deal. I told him
that kids just don’t show up at the CIS
level and play football. That just doesn’t
happen. But I also knew that when we
recruited Izzy (Idonije), he’d had only
one year of football experience playing
stand-up rush end in a rural smallschool nine-man league in Brandon. I
believed David could learn.
“But I also wasn’t in a position to
spend a lot of time teaching him the
game. So this is the deal I made. I said,
‘You will be invited out to practice.
You will not play in any games. We
will have a coach or an injured player
or a red-shirt player start teaching
you what you need you know to be
a defensive lineman. You will attend
every practice and you will work hard
in school. If you miss a practice, that’s
it. I’m not going to waste my time
or anyone else’s time teaching you
the game if you’re not going to show
up everyday. Deal?’ He nodded and
said we had a deal. I never expected
anything to come of this experiment.
To say I have been pleasantly surprised
with David’s progress would be a gross