Alumni 10/13/2015 3:21:00 PM

Where are they now: Tom Denison

Tom Denison credits his football experience for helping him learn to handle adversity.

To the Tricolour faithful, Denison was a catalyst for getting the Gaels back on the rails in the early 2000s while winning the Hec Crighton Trophy twice. At the time he was setting school, OUA and CIS passing records, though, Denison was also labouring to break into the CFL as a Canadian quarterback. The member of the 2015 Queen's Football Hall of Fame induction class got farther than most do, making the Calgary Stampeders dress roster in 2004 in between stints with Winnipeg and Toronto.

"I have learned so much through football," says Denison, 36, who in two weeks' time will play for a national senior championship with the GTA All-Stars of the Northern Football Conference. "When you look at my Queen's career [from 2001-03] in a vacuum, it's full of highs, which is why a group of us who played at that time are getting a reward with the Hall of Fame this weekend.

"When you look at the bigger picture, maybe the lows outnumber the highs. But to get to that point, you had to have some highs. It's not like everybody gets the chance to be cut in the CFL three times. None of those were easy. But it was a lot of fun. You just keep learning that there are always going to be people who are willing to help because they're so invested in you, which is a great feeling. And there are people who are obstacles. But you have to work through that to get to where you were are successful and see that as noise. That's the most valuable lesson I learned from football. Do the best you can and be loyal to the people who are loyal to you."

Denison, who presently works out of Mississauga for FirstData Canada, a credit card processing company, is one of only three quarterbacks to win the Hec Crighton more than once. The Beamsville, Ont., native transferred in from the NCAA in time for 2001, which was Pat Sheahan's second season and also the Gaels' first year back in the OUA.

Those early-2000s Gaels would evoke The Boys of Summer author Roger Kahn's observation "you may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in a love with a team in defeat." Queen's couldn't dislodge McMaster from the top of the OUA heap, but the striving to do so brought a buzz back to the program. Five players from that period – slotback James MacLean, offensive lineman Jon Landon, and defensive linemen Matt Kirk and Corey Trudeau – are being inducted this year.

"I'm biased – you can excuse me for it – but I think that core group of the 2001, '02, '03 teams was as important a group to Queen's Football as there has ever been," says Denison, who earned the Hec Crighton in '02 and '03. "We were at the moment where it could have gone in either way. They had been out of the playoffs for a few years [from 1998 to 2000]. We, as a group, put the shine back on the team, made it attractive for future recruits to come. What we were good enough to do was change the spirit of football at the university and change the perception of our program."

Coaching football and playing at the semi-pro level, where he's a good decade older than NFC players, keeps Denison busy. He's proud he's kept competing in a league that includes athletes who are literally a phone call away from a CFL pickup.

"The hits aren't as fun as when I was 24 but I've played with the same group of guys for several years," he says. "I can confidently say that this is it for me. It's fun to get to the national championship. I had a shot to play in it a few years ago but had to miss it because I was coaching."

This past summer, Denison and his offensive coordinator from Queen's, Warren Goldie, coached within the same amateur football program in Pickering. Reconnecting with a mentor was a treat.

"Warren had a very large impact on me," Denison says. "We were very alike in a lot of ways. We're both a little older and got a chance to reminisce about our experiences. That was really good."

Neate Sager (@naitSAYger), Arts '00, writes for Yahoo! Canada (ca.sports.yahoo.com) and other media outlets.

Print Friendly Version