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Bombers’ J.T. Gilmore and Clarence Denmark played through grief after each losing a parent
Preparing to play professional football's never an easy task, but it must have been particularly difficult for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' J.T. Gilmore and Clarence Denmark this week. Each lost a parent the previous week, with Gilmore's mother passing away at 53 due to a heart attack and Denmark's father passing thanks to a stroke. As Gilmore told Kirk Penton of The Winnipeg Sun Thursday, though, the two of them were able to lean on each other:
"I've talked to Clarence. We've just kind of bounced a couple things off of each other," Gilmore said. "He seems like he's doing OK. You never know what's going on in someone's head, but as long as you let them know that you're going to be there …"
Gilmore returned to Oregon for the funeral, but came back to practice with the Bombers Wednesday. He told Penton being back with the team proved to be a source of comfort for him:
"I went home for a little bit, but my mom was huge into my football and this is one of her favourite things that I did," said Gilmore, who has missed the last eight games with a calf injury. "She'd be pretty angry with me if I was back home sitting around not playing with my teammates."
Gilmore was obviously emotional when talking about his mom, but being back in the locker-room has eased his heartache somewhat.
"The distraction and being around my teammates … I haven't been with the team all that long, but they've done everything they possibly can to make me feel like family, without a doubt," he said. "This organization as a whole has been absolutely incredible."
That shows an interesting dimension of football; yes, it's a profession and a business, but teammates can also form bounds that go well beyond that. That was certainly the case for Gilmore and Denmark this week, and hopefully the team environment and the ability to come together helped them during this time of grief. Things didn't work out for the Bombers on the field this week, as they fell 32-21 to Calgary, and they're going to have an awfully tough time making it to the playoffs. However, even in years when the on-field product isn't quite coming together properly, there still are some great relationships formed and strengthened in this sport. Gilmore and Denmark were there for each other this week, and their team was there for them; that's important, even when it doesn't quite turn into on-field results.
