DeAndra' Cobb, left, was in the process of applying for a job as a prison guard when the Ticats came calling. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press) A quick question for Dave Stala and DeAndra' Cobb: Don't either of you know when to quit?
Apparently not. And that's what makes two of the newest Tiger-Cats true sons of Hamilton вЂ" one literally and the other spiritually.
Together they've supplied key moments that have the Ticats sitting at 2-1 in the early going of the 2009 CFL season, and if you don’t think that’s significant consider the last time Hamilton was better than .500 was 2004.
Both could have been forgiven for giving up the pro football dream.
Stala used to be a rising Canadian star in the CFL, but when he hauled in the clinching touchdown against Winnipeg at home last Saturday night (and promptly fell into the waiting arms of about a half-dozen delirious local folks to whom he gave the ball) it marked his first major score in over two full seasons.
The last time he'd seen the end zone was as a Montreal Alouettes slot back in Game 18 of 2006 вЂ" a year he caught 38 balls in what was itself an injury shortened ride.
A bad foot problem in early 2007 put him on the sidelines for all but two pass completions, and there were none in 2008.
But there was no quit. And when Montreal, Edmonton and Hamilton offered contracts for this year, he went for it and chose to come home to the Hammer, where he’d attended Cathedral High School.
“It’s a livelihood, it’s something I do,” said Stala, 29, basking in the early afternoon sun after a practice at Ivor Wynne Stadium and trying to come up with an explanation for his still being here.
“This is the greatest job that anyone could have throughout their lifetime. I don’t think an injury is going to hold me back from coming out here.”
