Jun
If It Wasn’t For Football…
Courtesy Canada.com
REGINA – Chris McKenzie’s battle to make the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders pales in comparison to ones he has already fought.
The 27-year-old survived a tough life on the streets of Queens, N.Y., long before becoming a football player.
“I’ve overcome a lot,” the rookie defensive back said Friday after the Roughriders’ training camp workout at Mosaic Stadium. “My brother calls me a warrior.”
McKenzie said his life wasn’t easy when he was growing up in Queens.
“My mom died when I was only 10,” McKenzie said. “I basically raised myself – me and my brothers.”
McKenzie said he and his father, two brothers and two sisters lived in the family home after his mother’s death. Three years later, his father left.
“He got into some trouble,” McKenzie said.
Without his father’s guidance, he gravitated toward the wrong crowd.
