Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
One full year elapsed in between games for Shawn Bane Jr.
After suffering a serious knee injury on Sept. 28 last year, the Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver underwent surgery and an intensive rehab process before returning to game action one day shy of the one-year mark as he made his comeback Sept. 27 against the Edmonton Elks.
However, considering Bane’s journey to get to the CFL in the first place, being patient is nothing new for the Florida native, who played college football at Northwest Missouri State and had a stint with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons before first signing with the Calgary Stampeders in 2020.
To learn more about Bane’s journey on and off the field, we caught up with him prior to Saskatchewan’s game on Friday night in Ottawa:
Name: Shawn Bane Jr.
Position: Receiver
Number: 15
Age: 30
Height and weight: 5-foot-11, 170 pounds
Where are you from? Sarasota, Florida
When did you get into football?
“Five years old. I’m pretty sure my dad (got me into football); he was playing. I started flag football at five years old at the (Sarasota Ringling) Redskins field and the rest is history.”
Play other sports growing up?
“I pretty much did everything growing up. My mom kind of kept us in all sports. Baseball is my first love; still love baseball, still hit whenever I go home, I still long toss. Basketball was cool. I had some golf lessons, had some tennis lessons, did a little bit of swimming. So we pretty much kind of did everything.”
How did you end up in the CFL?
“Crazy, crazy, crazy journey.
“I went undrafted to the Falcons. Just sick, great experience (with players like) Julio (Jones), Matt Ryan, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley; like some really good pros.
“In pre-season, our initial quarterback got hurt. He broke his foot, I believe. Kurt Benkert was his name. So pretty much it was you have to bring a (new) quarterback in to study the playbook for three days and so I pretty much knew there was a very slim chance of me making the team now after Kurt got hurt because he believed in me, which was sick.
“After pretty much the final cuts, they let me go, and I kind of bounced around from there. I had a workout with Tampa, had a workout with Pittsburgh, and then nothing really came about.
“And then Winnipeg called me. It was like, ‘Yo, it’s midseason. We can expedite you a passport, and you know, you can come play.’ And my agent at the time was like, ‘Nah, we’ll always have the CFL in our back pocket.’ And you know, me, I’m just like, ‘I just want to play ball. I don’t really care where.’
“We turned it down, unfortunately, and they won the championship in 2019.
“So 2020 comes around, and Calgary picks me up. We’re doing the virtual Zoom calls and whatnot. They ended up cancelling the season, which is low key crazy again.
“I was in Kansas City living at my pastor’s house, like DoorDashing and training. That’s all I was doing. He gave me one of his cars, and I was able to make money and live with him and train. So, yeah, 2020 was crazy.
“In 2021 (the Stampeders) picked me back up. They cut the pre-season games though … And so yeah, they cut me because technically there was no evaluations. So, the first seven games they went 1-6 and called me back. We did the quarantine period and played against Saskatchewan my first game and scored.
“And then the rest is history. We went 6-1 and were able to go to the playoffs.”
Any other jobs you’ve had outside of football and DoorDash?
“I was an umpire in my senior year in high school, so behind the plate and in the field.
“That was my first technical job. And then in college, I might have had a job for like two weeks where we worked at a Kawasaki factory. You had a small section, and it was like engine parts from one to the other, one to the other, and just stack the engine, and then pretty much just doing it by the hour and that was brutal.”
Favourite football memory?
“I won two national championships which were awesome. I guess I would say my first one though (in) 2015 (as a) freshman. We won the national championship in Kansas City. It was absolutely sick.”
Hobbies outside of football?
“Fish, read, YouTube.
“I have a clothing brand (Bane’s World Clothing). I try to stay creative in that space, for sure. I like to learn a lot of things. My girl’s teaching me how to knit, so we’re doing a little bit of everything.”
Hidden talent?
“I can juggle. I taught myself how to juggle.”
Any superstitions?
“I always call the family (and) I always pray. And that’s kind of really it. You always got to call back home and my usual (pre-game) ritual is in the back corner of the end zone no matter where we’re at, home or away.”
What would you be doing if you weren’t playing football?
“I went to school to be an orthodontist. I probably would be probably finishing up dental school now and kind of going into it.”
What would you like fans to know about you?
“I’m a great guy outside of football; on the field, it’s a whole different mentality. I’m loving. You can come up and talk to me, take a picture, get an autograph. Yeah, I’m human, just like they are.”
