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Saturday will be Saskatchewan Roughrider legend Don Narcisse’s last day in Canada.
Narcisse was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January of this year and he’s decided to move back home to Texas.
“I’ve been sitting at home the last four months and I just decided it’s just time for me to move back (to Texas),” he said.
Before he leaves Canada, Narcisse will host a meet and greet at Capital GMC today from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Narcisse joined the CJME Morning Show on Friday to talk about his time in the province and playing for the Riders.
“When I moved back (to Saskatchewan) in 2010, the one thing that I wanted to do is reach the kids, I got a chance to do that.” he said.
He gave kids an opportunity to meet a professional athlete while at a young age, he’s been hosting sports camps for seven years and raised over $300,000 to give back to the kids.
“It’s amazing, I got a chance to see both sides – playing and being with the Rider fans and also not playing and being with the Rider fans – and I got that opportunity and it has been unbelievable and I’d like to thank everybody that I came across,” Narcisse said.
When it comes to his diagnosis, Narcisse said he’s feeling real good.
“At one time I didn’t know if I had to do radiation or do something else but I found out, maybe two weeks ago, all I have to do is just do like a blood test every three months and just stay on top of it,” he explained.
Narcisse said his cancer is small right now, but you never know when it can turn for the worst, so he thought it would be best to recover at home in Texas.
“I’m going to miss not being in Canada. I’d just like to thank everybody and everybody who hit me up on Facebook, when I put a post out there it’s like everybody in Saskatchewan hits me up,” he said.
“I try not to cry about it but I tell you it’s an unbelievable feeling, I wish that somebody could be in my shoes to see what I got a chance to witness, it’s unbelievable,” he said, getting a bit choked up.
Narcisse said he was just a kid from Port Arthur, Texas who had one scholarship to play football and one team that really wanted him, the Riders.
“I got a chance, my mom gave me $40 to go try out for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and I got a chance to see the world and it’s just unbelievable,” he said.
Narcisse has many fond memories of being in Regina and called his time here amazing.
He recalled a time in 1989 when a little kid named Todd came to get an autograph.
Todd would then go to Narcisse’s apartment to ask for a second autograph and then came back a third time, but this time Narcisse was presented with Todd’s autograph.
“He said it was his birthday coming up and I went to his house and I talked to his mom so I could take (Todd) out. The next thing you know I went from talking to this kid to staying at their house,” Narcisse said.
“His mom and dad invited me to stay and through my career I stayed at their house. They were just like my mom and dad, whenever my mom would come down for a special event or I’m breaking a record, I had my Canadian mom on the field with (my mom).”
Narcisse said having his two families come together will be something he’ll always remember.
In 2010 when Narcisse moved back to the province, his Canadian parents called him up to say they have a place for him to stay.
“I lived the dream, but with those people being in my life I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” he said.
Narcisse spent his entire CFL career with the Riders and was part of the Grey Cup winning team in 1989.
– With files from The CJME Morning Show
