One of the reasons why the Canadian Football League is so endearing to many Canadians is the simple fact that they can easily relate to the players they watch on Friday Night Football each week. While the players we love to watch are generally in much better shape than us on the couches with our snacks but honestly we can relate to them a lot more than some may think.
The guys that put their health and well being on the line every game aren’t making millions more than the people sitting in the good seats at the 55 yard line. Actually some of their supporters are making a lot more than the players are. Unlike other pro sports leagues with the guaranteed dollars over years at a time, these guys are working with a contract that could be cancelled at any time. That puts things in a different perspective in a hurry.
Many fans have come to realize that some players, traditionally the veterans but some of our recent draft picks as well, have second careers that they are building alongside their playing careers. For some the second job stays strictly in the off season but for others it’s an ongoing piece of the puzzle that is their lives.
We reached out to one of our favourite home grown talents in Saskatchewan Roughrider receiver Jason Clermont. Like many CFL players before him, Jason has turned to real estate as an occupation that he can grow while his playing career is still active and then once he hangs up his cleats it can really take off. I have heard one CFL urban legend of a player-realtor that took a client phone call during halftime.
It doesn’t hurt that Jason has a name that is recognizable by football fans in the prairie province dating back to his days at a Regina high school and later the local junior team, Regina Rams; suffice to say, his roots in the city go deep.
His on field success has been well documented - a former first round draft pick that stayed loyal with his back to back national champion junior team when they affiliated themselves with the University of Regina to make the jump to the university ranks. From that point a pattern formed for the Prairie Football Conference All Star as he won Canada West All Star, CIAU All Canadian and Canada West Most Outstanding Player awards. Moving up to the pro ranks Jason was named the 2002 CFL Most Outstanding Rookie, earned a pair of West Division All Star nods, a CFL All Star nod and twice was named Most Outstanding Canadian.
2006 turned out to be monumental year for Clermont. Sometimes the positives can’t be seen until well afterwards and they always say that hindsight is 20/20 so now that there is time to reflect it could be said that the major knee injury Jason suffered while still with the BC Lions has led to some very important, and beneficial, decisions off the field. Jason tore his MCL in the first game of the season, but rather than just shut it down for the year he worked hard to rehabilitate and strengthen his knee.
On the field he was able to get back into the line up and earn his starting job back in only 8 weeks. Jason helped the Lions down the stretch and back to the Grey Cup for the second time in three seasons. This time Jason earned his ring with a win over the Alouettes. Off the field he got in contact with his own real estate agent in the Vancouver area. His Royal LePage agent made the connection to two individuals that ran Royal LePage Regina Realty and the ball got rolling.
It’s a pair of teams that makes everything work. Jason’s time with the club is used up with position meetings, on field practice and film study. His second team consists of an award winning partner in Jim Christie and a buying specialist Kailey Plohr. Like any great team, JC Realty has a progressive game plan of their own. In the future they have plans to go farther into the commercial development side of things and work on their relationship with one of the top home builders in Regina.
It’s a balancing act between spending important time with his family at home and then splitting the rest with the Roughriders, JC Realty, being on the board of directors with Sask Sport and volunteering with Sask Lotteries. In the end Jason will continue to be a visible individual, active in making Regina a better place to live.
Our CFL players truly are superheroes; by day you might see them in the boardroom and by night see them on the field!