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October 26, 2021

Bazzie Lovin’ Life After Extended Layoff

It was always obvious that Alex Bazzie loves football. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated that undisputable love for the game. Following a year and change at home in the Maryland-DC area with his family and an extended period of time as a free agent, Bazzie is back where he belongs: battling to help the BC Lions earn a playoff spot. Totally worth the wait, according to the athletic defensive end.

“Just the feeling of being on the grounds of both Vancouver, Surrey and wherever we’re playing that week, I’ve absolutely loved that,” said Bazzie.

“Walking the streets, coming into practice here and being on the old stomping grounds, I’ve kind of made a name for myself in this league. Seeing these orange walls with the paws on them, I know it’s real and not a dream. Despite the losses, it’s been a blessing to be around these men and coaches who have faith in me. It makes the fight a lot easier.”

Now in his third go-around with the squad, it’s safe to say this is his football home. Following a 2016 campaign where he led the team with 11 sacks and earned a West Division All-Star nod, Bazzie moved south for NFL stints with Indianapolis, Carolina and Arizona. He then returned to the Lions in September of 2017 before landing with Edmonton for 2018 and 2019. Three months after helping the green and gold reach the Eastern Final against Hamilton, 2020 free agency brought another new home, this time in the form of a deal with the Toronto Argonauts.

After a long pandemic layoff helped him re-discover the joys of family life, fefensive end Alex Bazzie is back in familiar territory.

We all know how that year turned out. Heading into this abbreviated season, there were no takers in free agency until the Lions brought him back on September 19th. In retrospect, Bazzie is glad he got some extended family time with his girlfriend Lanicia and young sons August and Avery.

“The house was full. A lot of chores for me to do that I had forgotten about,” laughed Bazzie.

“But it allowed me to embrace being home. When you’re on the road and in day-to-day football life, that’s your primary focus. It was good to have all of that time at home with the family because it allowed me to take in those little things I couldn’t take in as often. I was telling my neighbour; I hadn’t really been home like that since I left for college.

When it’s summertime and the weather is good, you start thinking football. Last year, it meant I was able to take the boys to the park and going on family walks. That was something I had really missed doing. To be able to embrace everything I was missing during those previous football years was nice. But I’m jacked up to be here now.”

Bazzie first exploded onto the scene as a Lion in 2014 training camp. At that time, he looked up to certain defensive veterans such as Solomon Elimimian, Adam Bighill and Dante Marsh, just to name a few. After suiting up in his first two games of this season, he will now serve as a sounding board to some of those newcomers on the defensive line who will all be counted on to bring pressure with four games to go in this push for the playoffs.

After a long pandemic layoff helped him re-discover the joys of family life, fefensive end Alex Bazzie is back in familiar territory.

It all starts this Saturday when the 4-6 Lions invade 6-4 Toronto before laying over in Southern Ontario and battling the equally-hungry Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, November 5th.

Playing desperation games is what Bazzie has always lived for, ever since his time in college with the Marshall Thundering Herd.

“It definitely feels like it’s playoff time already,” he said.

“You can feel the atmosphere of just a tight race. Everybody around the league knows there is no room for errors. Our team here has that sense of urgency and knows that we have some football left. We have to be grateful for that. Four games isn’t a whole lot but still gives us plenty of opportunities to extend this thing beyond November 19th. It starts this week at practice. Last week is in the past. We now put our horse blinders on and look forward to the future.”

The long layoff served him well. Now he’s hungry to help this version of the Lions make the conclusion of 2021 a memorable one.

Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com