On the field, you have players from two teams decked out in football gear. To defensive tackle Woody Baron, being a football player is just one of the many characters he has in life. The Lions’ veteran is one of three Baron brothers in the household. He grew up alongside his older brother, Jordan and younger brother, Tyler, in Nashville, Tennessee on Shelby Avenue.
Through the perspective of the middle sibling, Woody breaks down his defining moments with his brothers and how they’ve all learned to develop into different roles they’re in today.
“Tyler is eight and a half years younger than I am. For a long time, it was just me and Jordan,” Woody recalled.
As kids, Woody and Tyler did the same thing such as playing football and being outside with the rest of the kids. But once middle school came around, Woody stuck with football and Jordan developed an interest in video games and arcades.
When Tyler was born, Woody became the older brother overnight.
“I think about that sometimes. I’m sure at that age, it was a lot more responsibility for me. But looking back at it, it all seems like it went by so fast. I can’t remember a time I think of my younger brother as a responsibility. It’s just he’s so integrated into how I think about family and responsibility nowadays. I’m sure it had an impact on me being an older brother like setting an example, rather than being the one that the examples are always set,” Woody said.
Often, you hear phrases like showing somebody the way, but Woody contradicts that saying because who really knows what the right way is?
When it comes to guiding his younger brother Tyler, Woody believes it’s always about being present.
“What I showed Tyler was the things I had run into like frictions and challenges. I tried to give him the knowledge so he wouldn’t have to run into the same issues. But even with all the similar stuff we did like football and in school, Tyler’s story is probably totally different. You could do all the same things and your story, perspective could be completely different,” Woody added.
Woody compares his presence to a metaphor for math equations.
“The easiest example I can think of is his math homework. Just being present while he’s learning. Let’s say two plus two is four. It would be incorrect for me to say that’s the only way to get to four. What about three plus one? What about five minus one? Just be present. Walk him through it while he’s figuring it out.”
The younger brother Tyler was like a sponge learning from his older siblings. Woody recalled how Tyler used to follow him around and even snuck his way into Woody’s 12-year-old football team’s team picture.
“Tyler had a jersey on that day too and photobomb the team picture. That’s our official team picture to this day. He was like two years old and in front of everybody. It’s funny because he was around the guys on the team so much, nobody thought and said anything. He was two, we were like 12, he has no place here, not even on the team but he kind of is on the team,” Woody recalled.
Woody Baron wearing #95 and his little brother, Tyler wearing the orange jersey at the front.
Football has been a part of the Baron brothers’ life at some point, now all three of them gravitate towards different things in life. Woody’s physical demeanour on the field is just a character he puts himself into, so he can help the team at the highest level. Off the field, Woody likes to paint, draw, and enjoy poetry.
“I think it was from watching cartoons. That got me interested in artistic stuff. Like I do a lot of painting now, but painting is not necessarily my favourite means, I like to write a lot, which I think came before anything visual. Then I started to draw, and colour stuff that developed into paint. It’s always been there in some aspect, the desire to express myself,” Woody said.
The calm, artistic person who likes to observe has an on/off switch before he’s about to step onto the field. But that wasn’t always the case growing up, as he deliberately had to switch to a different emotional state, it’s challenging to maintain that character of a defensive line who’s always trying to dominate the opposition.
“Because there’s a character that you must get into in order to play the way I play. It’s a flip to my personality. When the season is so long, it’s not always easy to turn that on. I started to accept that you can be yourself, it’s like blending into two to produce a more complete both of a person and a player,” Woody said.
“I think it’s important to not reach too quickly to define you. Because you might outgrow that container. That’s one thing I love about a football team, there’s no right way to do it, everybody finds what is right for them and that’s such a great picture. I’ve begun to accept all the roles can be separate parts of my composite personality.”
His older brother Jordan, is now a head of security at one of the popular bar strips in Nashville. Woody says that when he’s not working, Jordan likes to play games and is quite a storyteller, too.
“He’s big into video games. He plays Dungeons and Dragons, which I started playing with him. I was so confused about the game but then I was like, ‘Man, this is so cool.’ He’s the most creative out of the bunch,” Woody said.
Their little brother, Tyler, is having himself a dominant senior year at the University of Tennessee. The edge rusher who stands at 6’5’’ and 260 pounds has five sacks through seven games for the Volunteers. His stature is the most genetically gifted out of the Baron brothers. Woody says the little brother went through two growth spurts.
From his older brother’s eyes, once Tyler received his first scholarship in middle school, Woody witnessed something special happening to his little brother.
“He’s always been a sponge to information. It was in high school when I started to see him separate himself, as it accompanies his growth spurts. You saw that he’s different, he’s getting a bunch of scholarship offers, the first one was in middle school. You saw him every year, every summer, he started to distance himself from everyone else,” Woody said.
Tyler graduated high school in 2020 during the pandemic, it was an emotional roller coaster for the family knowing the little brother was going to be leaving home for university. With Woody already starting his career in the CFL playing for the Montreal Alouettes at the time, it was challenging to face all the drastic changes.
“We all had to mask and quarantine. Graduation was outdoors. But, yeah, Tyler is growing up, he’s leaving home. Is he going to the right school? There was a lot of stuff going around and you kind of had to let time answer for you. Regardless of what you do, we’re family and we got your back,” Woody added.
Nowadays, Woody says he only sees everybody in the family together maybe two or three times a year. Although his mom photographs the family gatherings, it’s rare for the Baron brothers to be together. Jordan ensures the bar is running smoothly; Woody has a playoff game this Saturday against the Stampeders and Tyler will continue his quest with the Tennessee Volunteers.
“Jordan, I just want to say you are the coolest person I know. Keep doing your thing, I’m proud of you. You already know this but you’re my superhero, you’re my Ironman. Tyler, man it’s got nothing to do with what you do with your life, you always have a support system, and I’m always here for you. You guys are cool dudes and I’ll probably talk to you later today.”
Ahead of this Saturday’s Western Semi-Final matchup against Calgary, Woody shifts his focus towards another postseason campaign with the Lions. Shelby Avenue will indeed be watching.