How one of Canada's Professional Football Players beat the odds to become one of the best
Angus Reid Takes Off, Eh!
Angus Reid of the British Columbia Lions celebrates winning the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League’s version of the Super Bowl.
How one of Canada’s professional football players beat the odds to become one of the best The creators of South Park have joked that Canada is not a real country. Let ’em make all the jokes they want. Yeah, yeah, half of it is floating on icebergs and all the policemen wear dorky hats and ride horses. . . . Seriously, Canada is a lot like the US – they love their football! Any country that loves the game is okay by me. And one of the players their fans love the most is Angus Reid. The starting center for the British Columbia Lions, Angus is 30 years old and just finished his sixth year as a pro.
And he did it in grand fashion, as his team won the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League’s version of the Super Bowl. Angus is having a great career, certainly, but what really caught our attention was a letter Angus recently sent to Dr. Greg Shepard, the CEO/Founder of BFS. Especially this comment: “To this day, at 30 years old I still follow the BFS system exactly, and it still works! I’ve never had a football injury − heck, I’ve never even missed a practice. I give 100 percent credit to the BFS program and my willingness to follow it, so I just wanted to give a huge ‘thank you’ to you and your team at BFS. I’m living testament that it does change lives and it does work at every level.”
Hey, even though Canadian football only has three downs and their field is too long, we like this guy! But we liked Angus even more when we learned about all the obstacles he had to overcome to get to this level.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back In 1994 Angus was 18 years old and in his first year at Simon Fraser University, the only Canadian school in an American league. Back then he was a 6-foot-1, 250-pound offensive lineman, and he says, “I was not the biggest guy, but I had huge dreams and a great work ethic.” Because the university didn’t have a strength coach, the players were left to their own resources to get in shape. “I learned what I could from the older guys, but it wasn’t until I found a BFS magazine from ‘94 with a story on Warren Sapp that it all came together for me,” says Angus.
Angus in action in high school (#52) and with the Lions.
Angus has used the BFS program since 1994, and has squatted 705 pounds and power cleaned 375 pounds.
“I immediately ordered the BFS Total Program Book and went to work perfecting it. I dedicated my life to becoming a pro athlete by following your guidelines.” It was a good decision. Within two years Angus added 30 pounds of muscle and became a starter. But just prior to his third season Angus developed serious stomach problems that made it difficult for him to eat; he was also passing blood. “After much time with specialists it was revealed that I had a very severe case of irritable bowel syndrome and signs of Crohn’s disease,” says Angus. “Over time I got worse –it was too painful to eat food, and I couldn’t digest it anyway. I had to walk away from football and my dreams.”
Two years went by, and Angus’ weight dropped to 210 pounds; he Angus with his wife, Izabela, a former national judo champion who threw the hammer in college. was not able to exercise, much less play sports. But Angus wasn’t ready to give up on his dream of playing professional football. He found a doctor and a nutritionist who could help him. “Without telling my old teammates or coaches, I quietly starting training again, working with the guidelines set out by my doctors. I trusted the BFS program exactly, once again, to get me where I wanted to go.”
In what has to be one of the most remarkable comebacks in any sport, the following year Angus was able to use his medical redshirts and once again play college ball. By his senior year Angus had grown to 6-feet-2, weighed 305 pounds and broke every school lifting record. He squatted 705 pounds, bench pressed 455, power cleaned 375, had a 31-inch vertical jump and could run the 20 in 2.8 seconds! That year he became only the sixth player in school history to be selected as a football All American! That spring, Angus was selected as the fourth overall pick in the CFL draft and has been a starter ever since. Angus Reid’s story is an inspiration to any athlete who is tempted to say, “I can’t.”
He is a true 11, and we expect to hear more about his continuing success. MAY/JUNE 2007 Varsity Plyo Box Set!
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From BFS Magazine — May/June 2007. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
