Each week a Blue Bombers player will answer questions from fans. This week, linebacker Siddeeq Shabazz steps up to answer your questions.

Siddeeq, where are you right now?  

My home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

What have you been up to since the season ended?

Personal training – bootcamp, 1 on 1, group, and speed and agility for athletes, also been working on getting my programs started for my Non-Profit Organization T.E.A.M. Shabazz Foundation.

Siddeeq, You got moved around and had to play various positions this last season, which one do you prefer and why?

Originally I thought I preferred safety just because that was the position I played all my life and I felt more comfortable with the space and time to react to plays, but this season I learned that I was involved in the game a lot more at Will Linebacker and had a better opportunity to make a lot of plays!

Hey Siddeeq, just have to ask this.  How good did it feel in the first game of last season (against your old team) to lay that BEAUTIFUL hit on Jesse Lumsden putting him out for the season?  And were you surprised that Jesse went down?

Hahahah!  Well that’s a bit of a touchy subject to be quite honest as a football player we are like Gladiator’s and it’s our job to hurt the opposition, as a man though I personally don’t go out their with the intention of hurting someone, because I wouldn’t want it for myself. That’s why you see me get extra upset when guys start playing dirty, it’s an unfortunate reality of our sport though, with that many athletes running into each other full speed, people are bound to get hurt..  At the same time however, it felt good to take the guy they gave my jersey number off the field and let them decide if they made the best decision. In the back of my head I was wondering how long Jesse would last, and from what I had heard he’s a beast when he’s healthy. I did feel bad for the guy!

Hello Siddeeq.  Did you know and what were your thoughts on Shabazz being the best name in the CFL as voted on TSN?

 Well I was up their with some pretty unique names, but I’ve heard it all my life how great a football name Siddeeq Shabazz is.  It’s better than the list some comedy radio show had me on when I was in the NFL, they played a game where contestants had to guess if the persons name was a professional athlete, or on the FBI’s terrorist watch list?  Haha, really funny right!

What did you think when you heard you were traded? Do you feel you're better utilized here? What do you feel are our defence's strengths...how could we be better? Are you having fun here?  

My initial thought was “dang, they (the esks) really feel like they don’t need me anymore?,” But after a few hours and talking with Rick Campbell, and a couple other coaches, I got excited about the new opportunity, and about being somewhere I am wanted.  I felt a little more free to play to my abilities this past season so yes I felt better utilized.  The strength of our defence was the quality of athletes we put on the field, at every position I felt like we had a bunch of hungry playmakers.  To be better I’d say we could force the offenses hands a little more and make them react to us a little more, maybe be a little more aggressive.  This was a fun season for me despite all the ups and downs, we had a great bunch of guys in the locker room, I enjoyed our coaching staff, as well as the staff we didn’t see on a daily basis over on the business side as well.  I’d like to give a special shout out the Ms. Diane Hoeschen who brightened up every day over at the office, Love you D.

What goes through a players mind when the organization he is with is looking for a new head coach? Is there a certain head coach that a player would like to see in the organization?  

For me I haven’t been in the league very long, so I’m not familiar with too many of the candidates, I personally look forward to having a forward thinking coach who’s with the times. I’ve had coaches in the past who like to run you into the ground like your in High School, rather than respecting the fact that you’re a professional athlete who should know how to prepare on your own by this point in your career.  I say that knowing that theirs a thin line too, because we do have a lot of young players who don’t know what it means to be a professional yet as well.  I like a guy who knows how to interact with his guys and doesn’t make it just feel like business all the time!

What is your favourite city to play a road game in and why?  

I’m a big fan of Vancouver, I love the water, the mix of people, it’s a beautiful city, plus my sister is two hours away now and she comes out to support, and it’s nice to have family that close by!

Any update on when your brother will be deployed? I’ve been following some of your posts on your Facebook page about the fitness camps you are involved with. Can you tell us more about those?
 
My bro, I love that guy to life.  We just got done spending Christmas together before he got deployed on the 20th of January,  his boat was headed for Haiti to help with the relief efforts their, he already sent some amazing pictures of his arrival, and then they’ll be headed toward the Middle East.  We had some great time together, we were able to sale some of his first novel (Inconsolable sold at shaheedshabazz.net) as well as put together a short trailer for the website/movie deal, stay tuned for that clip on my facebook with yours truly playing the Blue Giant.  

Health and Fitness is my life, so I’ve been doing some bootcamp training down here in New Mexico, where I try and condense all of what I know about health and fitness into a 1 hour class 4times a week.  I’m really having a blast refining my skills as a life style coach and trainer, and best believe I will be bringing it to Winnipeg when I return with classes starting as soon as we break camp!

What was it like playing football in Germany?

Germany was awesome, as many of you know that is my birth country so it was a little bit of a homecoming for me, and I was actually blessed to find a long lost friend of my mothers who we are all now in contact with on a regular basis who’s daughters been to stay with us twice now since 2006.  That NFL Europe season will go down as one of my most memorable.  There weren’t many but the fans who came were die hard.  You could hardly hear in the stadiums, they had bells and whistles, and horns, I remember getting beat on a big play one time because I heard such a loud whistle it sounded like it was coming from the ref right behind me so I stopped playing.  The beer was strong, and the country was beautiful.  I loved how environmentally conscious the country was too, that had a huge impact on me.

Your girlfriend and kids stayed here all of last season, right? Your kids are cute and they seem very proud of their dad. It must be nice having your family there with you.

Sharlene and my kids were here with me all of last season, and it was awesome.  In 2006 when I got back from Germany I had committed to making a lot of changes in my life, and the biggest was putting my family before my career, something that was hard to do earlier when I was with the Raiders and Falcons!  I decided I wouldn’t do anything that my family couldn’t be a part of  and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.  

Did you like playing in Edmonton? They have a good fan base too, don’t they?

I really enjoyed Edmonton to tell the truth.  The fans were good, but I made some great friends on that team, they had a quality group of guys like the Kamau Petersons, J.R. Larose, Kenny Onatolu, Jonte Buhl, Garrick Jones, Taylor Inglis, Brock Ralph, Lenny Williams, just to name a few.

What do you think are your biggest strengths on defence?

 I’m not sure if you mean my personal strengths or our team defensive strengths so I’ll answer both.  Personally my biggest strength is my desire to make every play on the field, if there’s a ball carrier running I want to hit him, if there’s a ball on the ground or in the air I believe it’s pretty much mine for the taking.  As a team you had to have noticed the swagger, the fierceness, and the ball hawkishness (if that’s a word) not just with the DB’s shout out to Swaggerville, but up front with Big Bird and the gang, in the LB core with Joe “Smack you in the mouth and make you feel all of it” Lobendahn, and of course yours truly, and just all those ball hawks in the secondary, we were all hungry to make plays.

Do you know the new GM?

I felt a lil embarrassed when I read the question and had no idea.  So, I did my research and I now know it’s Joe Mack, been here before, won a grey cup, has three kids, the live in North Carolina, look forward to meeting him.

Are you coming to Winnipeg at all during the offseason?

It doesn’t look like I will be, just because I have so much going on down here with setting up the new direction of my foundation, but I definitely wanted to and will be sure to next off season, as community involvement is a huge thing for me, plus I want to say I braved a Winnipeg winter at least once!

What is your pre-game routine, or do you not have one? Is it the same for a road game as it is for a home game?

Pretty much I don’t have a pre-game routine per say, there are a few things I like to make sure I always do such as warming up at the right time, being a little early so I don’t feel rushed but not so early that I have to sit around thinking, have enough time to sit and meditate/visualize my success on the field, which I catch flack for every time this question comes up and my oldest daughter and son love to mimic the time the camera caught me meditating in my locker on a road game two years ago.  Then there’s some things I’ll never do again, such as take Sharlene and the kids shopping at the mall, or anything really that can take my focus off of the game.

What do you do on the road?

My biggest thing is normally just making sure I find a great restaurant to have a nice dinner with the boys, sometimes I’ll watch a movie, but it’s also the time I get a good amount of film study in since I don’t have to battle with Hannah Montana, and Spongebob for T.V. time.

During the offseason do you train all winter or do you take a break after the season ends and then get back at it?

A few years ago I learned that my body, and probably everyone else’s too, likes consistency.  In the past I would take a month or so off after a season thinking I needed the rest, until a couple of years ago after a conversation with my older brother/mentor/business partner Day, where I decided to only take a week off before getting back into my workout routine. When the next season came around I felt like I was much further along in all aspects of my game, and my body felt like it appreciated not having to go through the trauma of going from inactivity back to the grind.  So now I have a nice off season program that makes me feel tip top, right now I’m a lot leaner and almost 100% from my ankle and foot sprains.  My flexibility has increased as I do more yoga and pilates in the first couple of months, and I’m just enjoying staying fit and getting stronger.  Right now I’m starting to increase my endurance with longer runs and more sprints etc.

Thank you all for taking the time to connect with me during my off-season here in New Mexico, can’t wait to be back in the Peg making some more memories in your great city.  Hope you all are well, and I will be seeing you soon.

Siddeeq Shabazz.

Send your questions for next week's Q and A with Bombers safety Ian Logan to bbombers@bluebombers.com, subject: Question for Ian