Snap, and a dream comes true for Hamilton-born Ticat

Snap. It’s a dream come true.

Hamilton native Kevin Malcolm played the first two years of his CFL career for the Ottawa Redblacks, so when he came to town to play his hometown team his family was forced to choose between their lifelong allegiance to the Ticats and the kid they’d grown up with.

The Black and Gold won out.

“It’s pretty crazy, but my whole family kept their Ticat stuff; and when we played here, they’d wear it to the games,” he said, laughing. “I don’t blame them.”

There will be no divided loyalties on Friday night when Malcolm plays his first game for the team he grew up cheering for. The 26-year-old long snapper was signed this week to replace the injured Aaron Crawford and will suit up against the Montreal Alouettes.

Malcolm started snapping in minor football when he was 10 years old and kept at it, first for Bishop Tonnos high school, then McMaster — where he fired the snap that led to the game-winning field goal in the 2011 Vanier Cup — and finally with the Redblacks.

But he fell in love with football sitting on the wooden benches in the old stadium.

“I remember coming to games and we’d park in our secret spot and walk over with all my cousins,” he said. “It was a big event coming to games at Ivor Wynne.”

Malcolm’s late arrival provides a nice storyline to a season finale that means little to either team, as both Hamilton and Montreal were eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago. But Ticats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli says there is value in winning the last game of the season.

“It’s important to win going into the off-season — just from a momentum standpoint going into next year — for the all guys returning or possibly coming back,” Masoli said. “It’s only right, given how far we’ve come as a team in such a short time.”

Masoli is one of several key contributors slated to become a free agent, a list that includes receivers Brandon Banks, Luke Tasker and Andy Fantuz, as well as defensive tackle Ted Laurent.

They are part of a core group of players — a list that also includes quarterback Zach Collaros, offensive linemen Mike Filer and Ryan Bomben, as well as linebacker Simoni Lawrence and safety corner Courtney Stephen — who have formed the nucleus of this club for the past several seasons.

With uncertainty surrounding the front office and the future of head coach June Jones, it’s unlikely that all — or even most — of those players will return next season.

“It’s eerie to think about the fact that there are so many guys on this team that have been big contributors to this team both on and off the field that might not be here next year,” Filer said. “But after we were eliminated from the playoffs, we kept going hard. At this point, guys are just playing for each other.”

Whether Malcolm returns next season is also an open question, though he did sign a two-year contract with the club. Selected with the very last pick of the 2014 CFL Draft, he played two seasons for Ottawa before being released just before training camp last May.

He returned home to Hamilton, found a job driving a truck for Diabetes Canada, and waited for the phone to ring, staying in shape and going to a nearby field to practise his snaps with his younger brother.

Now he’ll play in front of close to two dozen friends and family, who this time will wearing the same colours he is.

“Growing up this is what you dream of,” he said. “It’s pretty special.”