Pier-Olivier Lestage | The one who doesn’t have his name on the Gray Cup

Pier-Olivier Lestage played 17 of 18 games for the Montreal Alouettes last season. Even if the last game of the regular schedule had no impact on the playoff ranking, he still played it. But an injury suffered in the second quarter of this insignificant game ended his season and above all prevented him from having his name inscribed on the Gray Cup.

On October 28, Montreal faced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival-Molson Stadium. This duel had the same importance as an exhibition match. According to the rankings, the two teams were already scheduled to meet in the Quebec metropolis the following week for the first playoff match.

Lestage, like other starting players, still took part in the match. After all, he is the team’s best offensive lineman. However, what was not supposed to happen happened, much to the chagrin of the main person concerned.

“It was a normal block, I went up to the second level, it was a great run from (William) Stanback. I saw Stanback start to run, I went towards him, but I couldn’t continue for long. Someone fell on the side of my leg,” he illustrated during a long interview with The Pressin the Alouettes offices at the Olympic Stadium, a few days ago.

A battery of tests and magnetic resonance imaging later, the verdict was in: grade 3 medial collateral ligament tear in the right knee.

Nevertheless, Lestage was optimistic that he would be able to play the following week and thus begin the playoffs with his teammates. The team’s therapist, Tristan Castonguay, however, had other news for the 310-pound colossus.

Lestage, in the shadows, trained and worked as if he was going to take part in all the upcoming meetings. Whether it’s the Eastern Final in Toronto or the Gray Cup in Hamilton.

But each time, the condition of his knee was too unsatisfactory. And he was doomed to be disappointed every day before the match. “At this point, I almost would have liked to have been told that my season was over, because every week, I thought I was going to play. And every time, I was told that I wouldn’t play. »

A painful week

Gray Cup week was a real ordeal for the 26-year-old to endure. His condition had improved. He even traveled to Hamilton with the players on the roster leaving at the very beginning of the week to play in the final. An indicator that doesn’t usually lie. Normally, injured and sidelined players arrive only 24 hours before matches.

Lestage was therefore excited at the idea of ​​being able to return to the game after three weeks of absence to play in his very first Gray Cup.

However, his dream turned into a nightmare during the team’s first practice. “It went well, I felt good, I just had trouble with a few movements. »

Lestage, eager to be part of history, still warned Castonguay of his discomfort. The diagnosis had the effect of a punch in the face delivered by Mike Tyson. “Tristan told me that if I wasn’t confident, he wasn’t confident enough for me to play. »

Away from the spotlight, the blocker probably made the most admirable and courageous decision of his young career to help his team triumph. He was transparent about his rehabilitation and left his place to a teammate whose state of health left no doubt. Ultimately, this laudable gesture cost him a place among the immortals.

When we point out to him how this lucidity is both dismaying and exemplary, he seems uncomfortable. Probably because true leaders are never very good at recognizing the greatness of their actions.

“I wanted to play, but I also had to ask myself if I was going to be able to help the team. Am I hurting the team more than anything else by playing around and being a little selfish? I could have lied and said I was 100%, but would that have been the best decision for the team? I do not think so. »

All week in Hamilton, knowing that his name would be absent from the scoresheet, watching his teammates prepare for the final in which he would not participate was torture.

“It was hard to see my friends practice. Live the Gray Cup experience. I experienced it too, but I was a little more in my head, that’s normal,” he remembers, playing with the cords of his sweatshirt in the colors of the team he dreams of playing for. since childhood.

Celebrate in the shadows

When Cody Fajardo threw a touchdown pass to Tyson Philpot in the final seconds of the final game to give the Alouettes their first title in 13 years, Lestage stood on the sidelines. Confetti floated above his head as he looked at the mural of his teammates celebrating. He was incapable of feeling the same euphoria.

“When the guys came on stage, I hung back a little and wasn’t too celebratory. (…) That evening, I did not touch the cup. It didn’t tempt me, I didn’t want to touch her. I was a little too much in my head,” he explains, his eyes moist.

Looking back, he blames himself for not having celebrated more. The feeling of an impostor overcame him and prevented him from fully embracing the dream he had cherished since the first time he donned shoulder pads in his native Saint-Eustache.

“I regret a little how I acted. I don’t think anyone noticed, but to myself, I would have liked to enjoy it more. »

Lestage will be entitled to a championship ring. But since he did not play in the Gray Cup game, his name will not be engraved on the trophy. This is why, to this day, he has never lifted the silver prize at arm’s length.

“I had my moments with the cup, but it was really more for my parents, for everyone to see. But I felt a bit like an impostor, because there was a feeling inside me that reminded me that I hadn’t done much to win this cup. So I got it just to show my world. »

A true champion

Lestage speaks with nostalgia of this experience, both formative and somewhat regrettable.

The team’s training camp will open in a few weeks. The dust has almost completely settled. He took it upon himself and through sustained work of introspection, he has today come to the conclusion that he is a winner just like his teammates.

Lestage is fully recovered from his injury. And he can’t wait to take the field again. Obviously, finding such a motivated and hungry player in the Alouettes locker room would be a complex task.

“I won’t lie to you that I use this as motivation. Of course I want us to win another one and I want to play this one. Yes, we won one, but I don’t feel like I really won a Gray Cup. »

After all, if his teammates are fueled by the idea of ​​triumphing two years in a row, Lestage is the only one with the chance to relive another first time. This time, with the real feeling of duty accomplished.