Could you imagine the Calgary Stampeders’ star running back Jon Cornish as a piano player?
Canada’s top football player was raised by none other than Reverend Margaret Cornish of St. Alban Anglican Church, and mom had some other intentions when Jon was a young teen and asked permission to play football at St. Thomas More Collegiate high school in Burnaby.
“I initially said ‘no,’ because he was studying piano, and he would hurt his fingers,” said Margaret, who just returned from Calgary this week after watching her son dismantle the Edmonton Eskimos, hence punching his team’s ticket to the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup championship game this Sunday at BC Place Stadium.
Margaret is making a “conservative” prediction that the Stampeders will defeat the Hamilton Tigercats by “15 points.”
Jon Cornish, 30, was the 2013 Lou Marsh Trophy recipient as Canada’s top athlete of the year, joining past noteables such as Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Cindy Klassen.
Despite her initial worry, Margaret knew Jon would excel. She’s also learned a thing or two about football along the way.
“I understand better now the nuances of football, but in those days it was easy for me …to watch the game I just watched Jonny run with the ball, he was the one running and getting the touchdowns,” she chuckled.
The soft-spoken social activist also gave Jon a not so serious ultimatum that turned out in her favour.
“I said, okay Jonny, you can play football if you promise you can get me a small cottage on Mayne Island. Anyway, he didn’t sign that NFL contract but he did with the CFL. So we have that cottage, but it wasn’t paid for by the NFL.”
Jon has done well, amassing rushing records in college, playing for the University of Kansas in the Big XII (while obtaining a degree in psychology) as well as several CFL records, including most rushing yards for a Canadian in one season (a record he shattered in 2013).
While Jon was a member of the 2008 Grey Cup champions, this time around he aims to lead the team, having scored two touchdowns against the Eskimos in the West semi-final.
On Sunday, Jon will have Margaret and four siblings cheering for him. And while Jon’s father died when he was a young boy, Margaret is certain he will be looking down with a smile.
