December 9, 2011

Road Trippin’ Rookie: Blog #2

Football players travel; it’s part of the business. Most do it by plane, some by train but Argos Rookie of the Year, running back Chad Kackert loves to hop in his car and ROAD TRIP! On November 10 he embarked on a 5,000 mile (8,046.7 KM for those counting) trip, including stops, to his home in California – don’t fret, he’ll be back for training camp, probably by car.

________________________________________


CHAD KAKCERT
Special to argonauts.ca

Destination: Edinboro, PA
Distance: 200 miles
Target: Trevor Harris

I miscalculated my timing to visit my sister. My first priority was to catch a University of New Hampshire (UNH) game. It was either November 12 in Maryland or November 19 in Durham, New Hampshire. Waiting to leave until the 17th would have forced me to rush to Florida for Thanksgiving with my buddies. (In America, Thanksgiving is the last Thursday of November). Driving to Boston and then Washington D.C. (which is near the location of UNH’s game and also home to Chase Kroll, a high school friend) would have added about 10 hours to my road trip. I opted to leave early and take the short route to D.C. through Pennsylvania where Trevor Harris happened to be residing at the time.

I met Trevor in Jacksonville after we had both signed as free agents in 2010. Trevor is a quarterback from Waldo, Ohio who played his college football at the Division II Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. Although we were both released during the final cuts on September 5, 2010, we remain good friends and his home is now a must stop destination for me. Trevor Harris is one of the hardest working people I know.

Trevor has had a bumpy road in his pursuit of continuing his professional career as a football player. After being released from the Jaguars, he was picked up by the Arizona Rattlers in the AFL, acquired by the Bills, dropped by the Bills before getting there, picked up by the Rattlers again, and then signed by the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the UFL. After that season ended he was picked up the Orlando AFL team for next season. In the mean time, he has been taking his master’s degree at Edinboro while stepping in as an assistant offensive coordinator there, where his little brother, Cody, has stepped in as the new starting quarterback.

I arrived in Edinboro at about 7:00 p.m. after a short 3.5 hour drive from Toronto. We had dinner with Cody and caught up on football and life. Trevor had to leave at 9:00 a.m. for an away game the next morning. Before going to bed, we realized it had begun to snow. Trevor decided it wouldn’t be a complete visit without a workout! We woke up at 6:00 a.m. to three inches of fresh snow and got in a great workout before he left for the game.

Trevor continues to be an influence on my life; his determination through all of his struggles is inspiring. All the while, he remains humble and confident that his hard work will indeed pay off. I believe it will, too.

Until Next time,
– Chad