Just a few short months ago, both kickers that will play in Sunday's Grey Cup were out of football.
Ottawa RedBlacks placekicker Chris Milo was selling cars in Regina. Sean Whyte of the Edmonton Eskimos was about to take a job as a cable technician. The often-nomadic journey of a football kicker has landed both of them in Winnipeg with a shot at being part of a championship team.
Whyte is a 30-year-old from White Rock, B.C. who entered the league in 2007 and has played for the B.C. Lions and Montreal Alouettes before joining the Eskimos mid-season. He had been released by the Als earlier in the summer, and was just about to file his retirement papers and take a job installing and repairing cable and internet. That's when the call came from the Eskimos.
"As a technician, I was told I could make $100 a house, so do ten of those a day and you could make a grand a day, that's more than I'd make playing CFL football," said Whyte. "But as long as people want me, I want to keep kicking. This game allows me to keep being a kid."
Whyte said his dad urged him to take the kicking job. Esks coach Chris Jones has often said Whyte fits in very well with their team.
"The guys give you a hard time, because they don't think you're an athlete, but they know I am," said 5-foot-9, 175-pound Whyte. "I say pick any sport beyond football, and let's go."
Milo had been released by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in early July and was only a few weeks into a new job as a car salesman when he got the call from RedBlacks general manager back in July after they had released kicker Delbert Alvarado. Milo had won the Vanier Cup twice with Laval and helped the 'Riders win the 2013 Grey Cup.
"Four months ago, I wasn't even in the league, so being here with this group of guys is very special to me," said 29-year-old Milo. "You never know when it will be your last day, you appreciate it more. Sean and I, we bumped into each other and chatted. I said, 'It's weird, we were both out of a job and now we're playing in a Grey Cup, so I guess it will be a battle of the unwanted.'"
Both kickers are faced with a challenge on Sunday. While the two offences both get to use their own balls for the game, the league will provide brand new balls for kicking situations. The kickers are used to kicking balls that are a little worked in, usually courtesy of the home team.
"They're new, so they're pretty slick-feeling, and that shouldn't affect me kicking too much, but it will affect the snap," said Whyte. "It's a different ball altogether. I just found out today."
Milo said neither kicker was told much about the new balls. He says new balls are much harder to kick.
"Fresh balls are hard, the seams aren't broken in, and in the two ends, there's no air yet, so it's like kicking a hard piece of plastic," said Milo. "Nothing I can do about it. I'll just worry about what I can control."
Rachel Brady