It has become part of Chris Randle’s pre-game routine now, a ritual that symbolizes both the clarity and focus that can come with fatherhood.
Sometime in those moments before kickoff Friday night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers all-star cornerback will grab a marker and write the names of his wife and his son – Kylie and Winston – on the tape on one wrist, and a bible verse and his game keys on the other.
There’s a lot to unwrap there, but the most important is this: just how impactful becoming a father has been for Randle and how it has changed his approach to football, to marriage, to… well, everything.
And there’s a very compelling story around all that…
“I’ve never called anyone ‘Dad’ before,” said Randle in a chat with bluebombers.com this week. “And so obviously, I take that word very, very seriously. Even when people joke around about it… I don’t even know how to joke around with it because I’ve never called anyone that.
“Knowing someone is going to be calling me that and how I feel about it, I feel like I’ve got to represent and stand for that.”
Randle was born in Berkeley, California 30 years ago. He credits his mom, his brother and his sister for being huge influences in his life, and said that a stepdad did come into the picture. And his biological father?
“He wasn’t there at all,” Randle explained. “We know of each other, but we don’t know each other. That story helped me grow as a person. I knew for sure it wasn’t normal, but I wouldn’t change my situation because I’m here now.
“Still, I knew the moment I would have this opportunity… I almost longed for the day where I could be in the position to make that relationship how it is supposed to be.”
Randle came north to the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders in 2012, after a stint with the Dallas Cowboys. He was the Stamps Most Outstanding Rookie in ’12 and after two seasons in Alberta, was traded to Winnipeg just before free agency in February of 2014. And from the moment he walked into the Bombers locker room he has been a respected leader, a man dedicated to his craft who was both the team’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player last year, but also its nominee for the prestigious Tom Pate Award – presented annually to the player with ‘outstanding sportsmanship, a player who has made a contribution to his team as well as his community.’
In short, he has embodied the word ‘professional.’
Yet, even his approach to the game changed when he and Kylie welcomed Winston into the world.
“My time is valued more,” Randle explained. “When I’m away from him I feel like I have to capitalize on every single minute, whether that’s in recovery or the camaraderie with my brothers in here, whether it’s in film. I’m not going to be in another country away from my wife and my son and waste any of it. Not even a second.
“It’s not that I was wasting time before, but my priority has change. There were times before where I might have said, ‘OK, maybe I can relax and watch Netflix.’ I’m not on that. It’s about focus.
“Everything since my wife became pregnant seems like it has an urgency to it. It’s not necessarily about things moving fast, but thinking about putting myself in a better position for after football. It’s also brought an urgency to football. It means I’m taking football more seriously than I have in the past because I feel like someone is watching me and it’s bigger than just me and my wife.”
“It’s life after football, life during football… capitalizing on the moment now and being able to be prepared to give life lessons, being able to live out the life I want him to live, being able to be the example I didn’t have. It’s not that I’m panicking about anything, it’s about always thinking about the next move and seeing a couple more steps ahead based on who I am doing this for now.”
Again, if there was one way to best describe the importance and impact of fatherhood on Randle it would be this:
“It’s about clarity, that’s the key word,” he said. “That moment in the hospital when Winston was born… that’s when it all really hit me. I had already been thinking about life after football and how I can capitalize on that beforehand. But when he came, clarity came.
“I can’t really explain it, other than to say I’m a very proud father.”
BOMBERS REPORT | AUGUST 16, 2018
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH:
Friday is the Bombers ‘Diversity Game’ with players and staff wearing blue ‘Diversity is Strength’ t-shirts featuring Obby Khan’s name and number 60 on the back.
“It means a lot to me, actually,” said Bombers QB Matt Nichols about the ‘Diversity is Strength’ campaign. “I came from a small town in northern California that doesn’t have huge diversity. Luckily, I’ve been able to get out in the world and be around people from all walks of life and been able to relate to all these guys on my team that are from Mississippi and Florida and Montreal.
“A locker room is an extremely diverse place, and this is the best locker room I’ve ever been in in terms of any position group, any player, can go hang out with another guy and have a great time together. Our unity in our locker room is incredible and it is definitely a diverse situation in our locker room. It’s awesome to be able to get to know people from all walks of life.
“It’s ridiculous in this day and age to have any mindset other than openness to diversity. It is an important thing and a great thing about our league.”
DRESSLER ON THE SHELF:
The Bombers unveiled their depth chart for Friday’s game Thursday morning, with the one change seeing Ryan Lankford replacing Weston Dressler in the starting lineup. Dressler was moved to the six-game injured list, but head coach Mike O’Shea said he doesn’t expect the veteran receiver to be out that long and the move is based on helping the club get some salary-cap relief.
“It’s a matter of protocol – we’ve done that with most guys this year,” said O’Shea. “That’s the way a lot of teams approach it, you put them on six game just in case there is something or a setback later on. I think it’s the responsible thing to do.”
SUCCINCT:
Question to Nichols during Thursday’s media availability: How do you make sense of the critics of this offence? And is it a testament to the success you’ve had over the past couple of years, is it a football-loving community, or do you even care to make sense of it?
“I don’t care and it doesn’t make sense.”
Added running back Andrew Harris:
“That’s just noise, man. It’s noise. We won the game. He made the throws he needed to, he controlled the ball when we needed to, didn’t turn the ball over. I mean, it’s just noise. We know what kind of preparation he does and how he plays… not every game is going to be perfect.”
BRING THE NOISE:
Adam Bighill on the Investors Group Field crowd, last week’s in particular, and the impact it has on the game:
“I definitely enjoy playing here. The fan atmosphere is great and the noise really ends up becoming a factor and we saw that last week playing Hamilton. The noise aspect, that’s definitely home field advantage and we’re looking forward to getting that tomorrow night.”
QUOTABLE:
Harris was asked about the importance of a hot start, given both the Bombers at +96 and Ottawa, +20, are two quick teams out of the gate.
“Are they hotter than us? Really? We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “They’re a hot team, I think we’re a hot team right now. It’s two hot teams combining for a hot day… there’s going to be a lot of hotness. It’s going to be so hot.”
