Kenny Shaw was having a tough time Thursday.
The 26-year-old receiver was disappointed to be missing the first birthday of his beloved Draco, who has been staying with a neighbour back home in Orlando while Shaw has been working with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Draco helped push Shaw through months of rehabilitation after he underwent surgery to repair three torn knee ligaments, an injury that could have ended Shaw’s pro football career.
That explained Shaw’s emotions as he discussed the importance of his, um, one-year-old Rottweiler.
“I bought a dog and that kind of helped,” Shaw said when asked what assisted him in getting back on the football field. “And I started reading more. You guys didn’t expect to hear that, but I started reading more. It shifted my mind a lot of places.
“I would say those two things helped a lot.”
Thanks to Draco and to motivational books, Shaw is set to play in his first CFL game since Aug. 26, 2017. He’s slated to replace the injured Naaman Roosevelt when the Roughriders face the host Montreal Alouettes on Sunday (11 a.m., CKRM, TSN).
S
haw began his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts in 2015, recording one kickoff return for 17 yards, one carry for 11 yards, two punt returns for seven yards and no receptions in two regular-season games.
The 6-foot-0, 170-pound product of Florida State University was much more of a factor in 2016, catching 77 passes for 1,004 yards and five touchdowns in 17 regular-season contests with the Argos.
That showing earned him a free-agent contract from the Ottawa Redblacks prior to the 2017 season, but he suffered a foot injury minutes before Ottawa’s first regular-season game. He required surgery to fix the problem.
After rehabilitating his left foot, Shaw returned to the Redblacks’ roster for their game Aug. 18, 2017, against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and caught three passes for 45 yards. Eight days later, he caught one pass for 21 yards against the visiting B.C. Lions before things went south.
With 38 seconds left in the second quarter, Shaw shredded three ligaments in his right knee — including the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament.
“I thought I hyperextended my knee,” he recalled. “I tried to walk off and it just kept buckling. I got to the sideline and, the next thing I knew, the guy who did my surgery was like, ‘Man, you tore three ligaments.’
“I didn’t know what that meant, being that it was my first (knee injury). I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t out of it mentally at that point.”
Things didn’t get easier for Shaw as he discovered the severity of the injury.
“It was scary,” he said. “You think about so many things, like, ‘Am I going to bounce back from it?’ But we all go through things in life and I always considered myself a pretty hard guy. In a situation like that, I like to bounce back and prove myself wrong, which is a hard thing to do.”
Surgery followed — Shaw’s second operation in less than three months — and then the rehab started.
Draco came along, as did the sudden interest in reading (“A guy randomly after rehab one day asked me when was the last time I read a book; I told him 10th grade summer,” Shaw noted with a smile) as the patient threw himself into his recovery.
Shaw admitted that the first month was the toughest, since he was told by his surgeon to spend that entire time in bed. Eventually, however, Shaw got to work — both physically and mentally.
“Eighty per cent (of rehab) is definitely the mental standpoint,” he said. “A lot more in the beginning is pain and jerking on the knee. But at one point, I just said, ‘I’m going to attack it head on. If it blows out again, it blows out again. I’m going to trust God and put all of my problems into God,’ and that’s what I did.”
After Ottawa released Shaw in April, teams started calling to see if he was interested in attending training camp, but he told them that he wasn’t ready physically. When he finally did feel ready, he told his agent to start contacting teams.
On Aug. 22, the Roughriders signed him to their practice roster.
“He has fit into our locker room, he works every day — he’s in there with his receivers coach every afternoon until probably 4 or 4:30 — and football matters to him,” Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “I look forward to seeing what he brings.”
A month of practices has helped, especially since the Roughriders’ “double-barrel” workouts give the backups as many opportunities to run plays as the starters.
Shaw said he isn’t hesitant when he makes cuts anymore and he doesn’t think his mindset will change the first time he gets hit — sort of.
“I hope I get a nice easy hit at first,” he said with a grin. “I hope it’s not a bone-crushing one.”
He admitted he’ll be emotional Sunday as he ends a 13-month hiatus from games, but he’s eager to show his skills once again.
The trouble is, he may get into only one game as Roosevelt’s replacement; the veteran slotback is expected to return for Saskatchewan’s showdown Oct. 8 with the visiting Edmonton Eskimos.
That isn’t Shaw’s concern as he approaches Sunday’s game.
“I’ve just got to be myself,” he said. “This game is nothing new to me. Before this season, I had 1,000 yards. But that’s in the past. All I can worry about is what I can do right now.
“I’ve been preparing. I’ve still got stuff to polish up on — and that’s why I’ll probably be here until about 6 o’clock (Thursday). So, no nap for me.”
