HAMILTON, Ont. - Tyson Middlemost is a football player. The Dundas native played many sports growing up: baseball, basketball, cross-country running, volleyball... you name it. He was competitive from an early age in all of them. Having been in the fitness industry, his parents pushed him to compete, making little competitions for him, and he enjoyed it. Middlemost soon found he hated losing.

One sport was different than the others, though. He just had a certain feeling when he left the field after a football game.

The former McMaster Marauders receiver would feel a sense of relief. Like looking back upon his body of work. A relief with how his work turned out. "It's like something off your back," he said. Middlemost felt like he truly impacted it. He would feel that satisfaction lying on the couch afterwards, all sore from a game.

Football has been Middlemost's career – from playing street football with friends to his time with the Hamilton Panthers, playing for the St. Mary's Crusaders secondary school to the McMaster Marauders. He's now entering his fourth season with the Calgary Stampeders. Once, football was merely a pastime for him. Now, it has become the very essence of his being, a testament to his unwavering dedication and passion.

Early on in that journey, he felt something else aside from relief. He remembers his first time strapping on the pads for hitting drills, using his full power. He wanted to show how strong and fast he was, and he remembers that feeling of competing in those drills.

However, Middlemost realized something. He was always living in the future. He was always looking to better himself always asking himself that. What's next? How can I be better for the next level? He kept working. He wouldn't be living in the moment though.

Even when Middlemost left the field after a win, yes, there was that feeling of relief, but he would find himself asking himself what he could have done differently.

Once again, thoughts about what he wanted to show people would come to mind. How can I show that I am a good player? He asked himself. He wanted to show his intangibles. He wanted people to say: I wish that guy was on my team. I wish I had played with that guy.

Middlemost would feel satisfied when a coach told him what a great game he played. He wanted people to see and feel the effort he put in.

That effort could be seen in all those hours, days, and years of training, from when he started working out as a kid with his dad Murray, to grade seven doing receiver specific training with Matt Giordano, a former McMaster receiver who taught him the route it takes to be a receiver to learning about the importance of nutrition and conditioning from his mom Rita.
 

When Middlemost played at Saint Mary's, he had higher aspirations than high school football. He would often leave practice early to go do more receiver oriented workouts having had to play quarterback for the team out of necessity.

Coach Rob Underhill, now the McMaster special team's coordinator, left a profound impact on Middlemost. It was after one of his Hamilton Jr. Hurricanes games, when Middlemost was physically drained from playing both offence and defense, that Coach Rob's words of encouragement resonated deeply within him.

Underhill told him he was on the McMaster scouting list. Wow, I'm not just out here dying on this field, Middlemost thought. Someone apart from my teammates sees what I'm putting in here and appreciates my work.

McMaster ended up being the only school that offered him a partial scholarship. He came to university as a quiet person. He soon felt the community aspect of university football and started to open up. He felt his confidence build.

There he was, standing in front of the team, singing as a rookie. He was returning some kicks there but not seeing the field much beyond that. There he was, sitting in the bleachers during a game against Carleton.

Middlemost knew he had more to offer. It was a comment a Carleton player on the field made to him in the stands that sparked a fire within him. It was a comment that he couldn't shake off. He didn't want to be a bystander anymore. He felt the pain of his senior teammates' departures, their unfulfilled dreams.

So, he went to work that summer. He knew he needed to gain weight and strength, "man strength," he called it.

His mentality shifted as well. He thought of himself more as a predator than prey. He felt more confident. He started understanding more of the playbook, realizing he couldn't beat his opponents by simply imposing his will as he did in high school. He needed to start putting his skills to use.

By the time his second year came around, it was one of his best. Wait, there he was on the sidelines again. He suffered an abdominal strain in his third year. A weird injury, according to Middlemost. A big hit on his confidence as well.

Fast-forward to his senior season, and he was back on the field. He was closer to his teammates than ever. They played for each other. Now, he was the senior looking for the winning ending.

Perhaps he felt that standing on the field after winning the Yates Cup in 2019 after beating the Western Mustangs. Middlemost felt the moment sink in once he saw the elation of his teammates and felt the weight of the trophy in his hands. He felt relief more than anything else.

Then, he felt confused, with an uncertain future ahead of him. He was drafted by the Stampeders, but the 2020 season was cancelled. He kept training, though.

Middlemost ended up working as a tile apprentice. He was always a fan of HGTV and thought it would be cool to learn a trade and now he was doing so.

After a long, hard day of work, he would work out. Yes, he was tired, but he had to do so. Was it due to his love for the sport or something else? "It was just so deeply ingrained in me; that's just like what I had to do," he noted.

Deep down, he knew that love for the sport could only take him so far. Those habits would carry him forward to his next step.

When the CFL returned in 2021, he hit the practice field realizing how the tiling job helped him live in the moment. He realized how much better practicing was than tiling.

Middlemost would end by living by himself in Calgary. That year there were heavy COVID protocols and testing that made the transition even more alien. "An eye-opening experience," he called it.

He not only believed in his potential as a receiver, but also recognized the team's trust in him, which led him to embrace a special teams role, showcasing his versatility and adaptability.

There was a new task. Something to work on and get better at. He worked on backpedaling and blocking opposing players at a fast speed for 40-50 yards downfield.

As he did as a Marauder, Middlemost thought more and more about what he wanted to improve on as his Stampeder career went on.
 

That meant understanding the game on a mental level, taking a step back, and learning the game. As a rookie, he would pour over playbooks to understand the offence and other teams' differences.

Middlemost remembers what it was like not being prepared in his first CFL play as a receiver. He knew the route – which had two options. However, he felt the excitement and nervousness of his first play. He rushed to the second option while the quarterback threw it to his first option. It ended up being an incomplete pass.

Since that moment, Middlemost kept studying, learning and preparing. He studied the different receiver positions. Two years ago, he remembers filling in a position he rarely played being prepared to catch a fake screen pass for a long reception. His preparation paid off.

What about now? He tweaked his hamstring twice last season so he switched up his off season training to be more athletic and explosive. To be healthy for a long season.

In his mind, he reflected on his competitive nature. He's always going to be competitive. However, it became less of a "me against them" mindset to competing but rather how he could get better. How have I improved from last season; he would ask himself. Am I going to learn from my mistakes?

When he does make a mistake, his coaches will correct it. When he is about to make the same mistake again, he will catch himself and step back. Slow down. "Not let habit take over sometimes as well," he added.

Previously, his sole focus was on winning, which led him to rely heavily on his established strengths and strategies. However, he's now questioning the effectiveness of these approaches in fostering his personal growth. Middlemost is no longer content with relying solely on his speed and power. He's actively seeking ways to enhance his mental resilience, even if it means venturing into more challenging territories.

He hears his Calgary receivers coach, Nik Lewis, ask him, "What kind of player are you if you can't do what you're best at?"

Who am I if I can't just run by you, Middlemost wonders? Can I still be a professional athlete if I don't have the speed and strength? Do I have the mental aspect to just outplay someone and know where I have to be?

Middlemost asks himself how he can impact his team. Maybe it's by blocking more or being a returner. Maybe it's by being more conscious of his spacing or technique. Maybe it's by being more vocal and present with his teammates. He started working on those things.

There's an overarching theme again: How can I be better?

The Japanese concept of Ikigai comes to his mind. For him, that means being in love with the process and grind. The ongoing internal process of always getting better. Having won the Most Improved Player award twice at McMaster could be seen as a testament to this ideal.

Middlemost knows he has to enjoy the hard parts of his career. "That's the stuff you'll look back on and really appreciate," he said.

Interestingly enough, one thing he's working on involves not thinking forward and forecasting. He knows his constant focus on the future is a positive and a negative.
His forward-thinking approach has been instrumental in planning his next moves, always striving for improvement and anticipating future needs. However, he also recognizes the importance of not getting too caught up in the future, a lesson he learned from a memorable experience on the field.   

"It's not you're glad you won," he noted. "You're just kind of glad you didn't lose."

His mind would turn to what he could have done better toward the next game. Yes, he feels the satisfaction from football, but he's missing the entire piece.

He admits he's too far gone to enjoy winning games, but he tries to live in the small moments, those times he hangs out with teammates. He tries to be a bit more lighthearted during practice, being competitive in a fun way while still working hard. He'll talk to different teammates. He'll soak in the moment as the national anthem plays before a game. He'll see the opposing team and the crowd. He takes in what's about to happen.

There's somewhere else Middlemost finds himself living in the moment. Somewhere different than a football field. He loves animals, all the way back when he was a kid. Not just cats and dogs but all animals. Even the obscure ones most people have never heard of.

Whenever a school assignment asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would first say biologist and then sometimes professional football player as he felt teachers would not understand his dream.

Middlemost keeps his passion for animals alive by going on hikes in Hamilton and elsewhere. He remembers a highlight of his first CFL training camp was seeing a white-tailed jack rabbit on a walk while quarantining at the University of Calgary residences.

He'll hike at Kananaskis Country, 45 minutes outside of Calgary and pick a mountain trail at random just to go through the crazy climb to the top. Sitting atop the mountain, he'll look back at where he came from. He'll soak in that time. It's all worth it, he thought.

What's next for Middlemost? He wants to win a Grey Cup but also keep following his passion for animals, nature and gardening. How could he forget when he hid away from that in the past? He remembers when he began losing that passion.

Middlemost would read all those encyclopedias about nature and animals and go outside growing up. Then, he started pulling back and hiding away that part.

One day, he didn't know the name of a creature he saw on a walk. Middlemost knew he was losing an integral piece of his being. He knew he didn't want to hide that part of himself. He needed to feed it more by hiking and getting back into ecology somehow.

Since then, Middlemost has volunteered with a turtle habitat restoration project in Hamilton. He pointed out that working at a conservatory would be really cool. He doesn't have a future dream job that comes to mind in the ecological sector right now, though. He wants to keep his passion alive.

"If you catch me on a farm in 10 years, don't be surprised," he said.