Daily walks to Rider rookie camp helping Saskatoon fan heal after brain injury

Every morning during the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ rookie camp and main training camp, Saskatoon’s Dwayne Bzdel laces up his shoes at his home in the southern part of the city.

He grabs his walking stick and steps out his front door, beginning a daily journey of nearly five kilometres over sidewalks and intersections until he reaches his destination at Griffiths Stadium. It’s a long walk, but it’s a trip that Bzdel said he looks forward to every spring.

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“I keep my head down and just think about what’s happening today, what happened at training camp yesterday, and seeing the people that I’ve seen for the last couple of years being here,” Bzdel said.

He said during training camp, he gets to spend time focusing on the sport he loves, while taking literal and figurative steps towards improving his own health, which has been in decline since an accident in 2021.

“It takes me pretty much an hour each way,” Bzdel said. “I use that time to work on my cognitive (skills), counting my steps by twos, threes, fours, fives, 10s until I lose count.”

The 59-year-old Bzdel has spent the past five years in recovery after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident at work. The fall permanently changed his life, leaving him with symptoms affecting his sight, speech, co-ordination and especially his memory.

“I fell off the back of my five-ton delivery truck on a construction site, which was like hitting cement,” Bzdel said.

“I hit the ground, bounced up, saw my hard hat flying, hit the ground again and it impacted the area of my brain that affects everything.”

Bzdel, who grew up on a farm east of Saskatoon, said he struggles to remember many parts of his life, but even years later, memories tinged in green and white still stand out.

“Most of my memories from my childhood have been wiped because of my accident,” he said.

Bzdel said he knew about the team from an early age.

“There were dents in the hood of the grain trucks from Labour Day,” he said. “My dad knew exactly how the Riders were doing.”

Bzdel has been in attendance for each training camp session for Saskatchewan for the past few seasons.

With spome aspects of his life often thrown into chaos as he manages his symptoms, he said the Riders’ routine has brought a sense of normalcy to his days.

“This is something a normal person could do,” Bzdel said. “That’s what I strive for every day. Most days I don’t achieve it, but it’s something that pushes me to try and get recovered.”

Saskatchewan players have taken notice, with receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker and former wide-out Shawn Bane Jr. forming a relationship with Bzdel and inviting him to attend a handful of games in Regina.

Those games deepened Bzdel’s passion for the team, and last season he became a Roughriders season ticket holder for the first time.

“Being around so many people and so much movement really sets off a lot of the issues I have,” Bzdel said. “I do it because it’s something a normal person could do.”

Bzdel’s attendance every day at Griffiths Stadium is something Roughriders head coach Corey Mace has taken notice of as well. He said it shows just how important the team is to the community.

“We talked about that night one, with the guys just understanding what this logo means to the people of this province,” Mace said.

“He’s a great example of that. He’s out here dang near every day during training camp. The players and coaches, we sacrifice a lot, but so do the people who come to see us.”

Bzdel said he tries to get some face-to-face time with Riders players at the end of each practice, before he collects his belongings each day and begins the nearly five-kilometre journey back home.

He said he makes no distinction between the CFL all-stars and the brand-new prospects aiming to jump to the pro level.

“These guys deserve respect and support of the fans,” Bzdel said. “Even saying hi to a few of them, it just uplifts my spirits.”

Even though Bzdel’s memory is fading, he said last year’s Grey Cup championship is still fresh in his mind. He said he watched the historic win from his basement, surrounded by a collection of seven Roughriders jerseys.

With the 2026 CFL season on the horizon, he hopes more special memories will be made by this year’s crop of Roughriders.

“I don’t have a lot of memories and I still can’t remember a lot of things,” Bzdel said. “That’s one thing I will remember.”

Rookie camp notes

Defensive lineman Kevin Orange Jr. and national receiver Dylan Djete were absent from the second day of the Roughriders’ rookie camp on Thursday.

Djete was revealed to be dealing with a soft-tissue injury, and Mace said Orange Jr. is also on the injured list.

“We’ll see what that’s going to look like once we get some more information on that, but yeah, tough,” Mace said.

The head coach said defensive back JuJu Hughes, defensive lineman Justin Weaver and receivers Freddie Swain and Tyrie Cleveland were standout players on Thursday.

Rookie camp wraps up on Friday morning, with the team’s main training camp kicking off Sunday.