Deshawn Stevens – CFL Football Success Story

Deshawn Stevens: Building a Legacy in Football at LPS

Deshawn Stevens, a renowned linebacker for the Ottawa Redblacks in the CFL, shares his journey of growth and success. In the competitive world of football, it’s essential to constantly improve and adapt. For Deshawn, the key to success lies in his commitment to personal and professional development at his training center, LPS.

Chapter Overview:

00:00 Introduction to Deshawn Stevens
00:13 Reflecting on Past Mistakes and Growth
00:56 The Importance of Environment and Support
01:34 Overcoming Injuries and Challenges
02:51 Learning and Development at LPS
03:25 Memories and Inspirations
04:52 The Unique Atmosphere at LPS

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Growth

Deshawn reflects on a moment in his career where he realized the importance of preparation and training. Initially, he embarked on a personal journey that left him feeling stagnant. His determination to grow and build longevity in his career brought him back to LPS, a place that fosters success. Here, he found an environment conducive to progress, where others before him have achieved greatness. This realization prompted him to prioritize growth, strength, and athleticism in his training regimen.

The Importance of Environment and Mentorship

Deshawn emphasizes the role of LPS in his journey. The environment provides all the tools necessary for success, eliminating any reason to look elsewhere. Surrounded by knowledgeable mentors and fellow athletes, Deshawn is committed to learning and developing himself as an athlete and as a person. The community at LPS fuels his desire to build upon his achievements and continue growing.

Learning from the Best

Deshawn shares anecdotes of the seasoned athletes he admires, their influence serving as motivation. From fellow players like Fabion and Wayne to mentors like Gordy, Deshawn is inspired by those who have carved their paths and left a legacy. Their presence at LPS showcases the potency of learning from experienced individuals who have been in the game and understand its intricacies.

A Unique Training Experience

LPS offers Deshawn a unique training experience. Though he has trained in various places, the diversity at LPS makes it exceptional. Athletes from different sports come together, creating a melting pot of experiences, competitiveness, and energy. This dynamic environment challenges Deshawn to push his limits and continuously evolve.

Conclusion: The Place to Be

LPS, according to Deshawn, is undoubtedly the place to be. It offers the foundation and support necessary to succeed in the high-stakes world of professional football. The community he has found at LPS provides the perfect backdrop for his ongoing journey of growth and development. Deshawn remains committed to harnessing the energy and opportunities at LPS to build a lasting legacy in football.

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TRANSCRIPTION:

Deshawn Stevens I play football for the Ottawa Red Blacks and the CFL. I currently play linebacker. The reason why I came back, you can see the difference. I’m like, you don’t want to be the little boy out there in the league just because, obviously it’s competitive. It’s everybody out there trying to provide the type of stuff.

And me going on my own thing the year before was naive in a sense, because I know I had my own issue going on. But after getting resolved, I should have been back here. I should have been doing what I need to do to handle myself and be prepared. At the same time as I didn’t. And I felt the, I felt the results of that.

And, I’ll say lucky this year, a little bit of help on my own, but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t feel like I built off, it didn’t feel like where I left off. My, Ricky year to my second year. I was like I made any progression. It’s like I just felt stagnant and So I want that. I want to keep building.

I want to keep having longevity I keep want to keep building up in there and it was clear there to me I’m like you’re somewhere where you know, you’re making progress. You’re making steps. You have results in front of you being here. Obviously and I don’t really see anywhere else to go. That’s my main thing.

Obviously I can go somewhere, but the environment here, there’s no reason to leave it. Specifically why? I feel like everything you need in here is to be successful. You don’t need a lot. Everything in here has built people who’ve been here before, previously had success and still continue to have success to this day.

I don’t see why there’s any reason not to be here. I want to be here. I want to keep growing. I’ll keep building up, keep getting stronger, be a better athlete. Like I said, be dominant, everything like that. Like I said, I don’t, I feel comfortable, but I feel comfortable coming in ready to work.

Comfortable trying to learn, trying to grow. That’s my thing. There’s everywhere to go. I’ve just been with LPS when I first came, I first heard about it. Personally, I’ve just seen the difference of having an off season being here and not having an off season. From when I first came in 19, yeah, in 19 I came out, or 2020.

I first ruptured my achilles and then whatever that season passed and I was still lagging behind and we had a spring season. I first came in the 2020 of winter. So now, yeah, winter and then spring. And then when I went back to school, I felt, I felt that energy, that same, strength I felt before as a football player and I can see it.

I wasn’t all the way there, but I felt it coming back. And the same thing from my rookie year with the Ottawa, with the Red Blacks. I haven’t been to off season here again. It felt stronger, it felt powerful. Obviously I still wanted to grow more, but you just felt dominant, you felt stronger out there.

You didn’t feel like I was necessarily a little, I wasn’t out there physically being left behind by my peers. Obviously it was a challenge going into a growing man’s league, playing against other growing men, but it still didn’t feel like I was left behind because of what My physicality and stuff was more just mental aspect and understanding what’s at this level and I’ll say what this past season that I came by 2023 I felt the difference because I had an injury before last season so I didn’t come in here I didn’t train the way I should have or I needed to and I felt the difference I felt the lag behind it was like a 90 day difference So I’m not like, you know having that commitment having that work having that preparation being here Really made a difference So obviously coming back this year and I wanted to be here, I still want to keep growing here.

I still feel like there’s a lot more I can learn and do while being at LPS. Because, again, there’s people, there’s mentors, there’s everybody around here who has the knowledge. Knowledge I don’t have, knowledge I’m willing to learn, knowledge I’m willing to listen to. I keep trying to develop myself as an athlete, as a man, that type of stuff.

And go back ready to keep building upon where I left off. Again, it’s always just keep building and seeing the differences from where I was here. How much further does it go? I like learning from people I acknowledge who have been there, their experiences, who can teach it back. That’s number one, obviously.

And learning from him, being around now, obviously there’s other guys who’ve been here before. That’s probably the reason why I come here. Really, Fabion, I played, Metro. We played over there, right there in Matthews, over there. Wayne too. I remember seeing Wayne. I first seen Wayne when he played for Richview against Bosco and he bust, he beat them.

He beat them badly. Literally, I remember a guy saying the Wayne Moore Show. I remember seeing just me, me and my reg and my friends, whatever, just running through people doing all that stuff. I’m not sure if he was here by that time when he was still in high school, but I just remember seeing, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him.

And they feed me that Metro too back then, you just look, same way, just big body dude, man, growing man and whatever type of stuff. Obviously, I can’t forget Gordy over there. Gordy. Cool. He may not know, but I remember seeing Gordy from, when he first came to Metro, when we first played Team Ontario together, it was like we were playing linebackers, so I had known him from back then, obviously, I can’t remember the experience because I was a little, whatever, but it’s crazy just seeing him from when he, from there till now, I don’t really think of myself any different, but I have all respect for him, because it’s he’s one of the people from, look at the people we have, we played football with from back then, and a few of us still down here now, it’s me and him, only a few small circle of us yeah.

I can remember looking back at how many, not just from our team, but like different people in the league we played against. So it’s just more credit to him and the people, who are up in this war right now. So it’s having that familiarity, seeing that, people from our area, people from, home, the city can still do stuff like this.

That’s probably the biggest reason why I believe in coming back here, because you’ll still find that result you need, or not really, but you’re looking for. That same, That place you want to be, that place you want to keep growing, that type of stuff. I feel that LPS is, the place to be.

When I first came to LPS, it’s just learning from the ground up again. I had experience training in high school, training at college. But coming here is learning a new, basically learning something you already knew about, but actually learning it from the ground up again, at least from a different perspective.

Um, every day you come in, it’s a certain, routine, a certain amount of exercise and being asked. It’s not so much something that you didn’t do before. It’s just something how to do it the right way, how to enhance yourself, how to make yourself, more durable, stronger, everything, so forth.

I’ll definitely say learning from when I first came in to where I’m at now. It’s not necessarily a familiarity, but it’s what’s being asked of you in here, or what’s being asked out of yourself. How do you want to get better? How do you want to get stronger? How do you want to improve?

And that’s probably why, that’s probably why I asked you why I like coming back here. Just the atmosphere, the energy, the environment overall. Just, what do you want, and what do you want to get out of being here? I’ve been to, but, I’ve trained with different people. I trained, obviously, like at school and stuff like that, but, it’s so well matched here.

You get an element of people from different  sports. And, you’re used to working out with your teammates and football, obviously, but it’s a different. Seeing other people from different sports. Seeing what, baseball, seeing hockey, soccer, other football players, that type of stuff.

Track. So everybody has their own kind of their edge, their own kind of like you can see it when you’re moving in there. I don’t know, it’s just, it’s a different competitiveness, different energy, different mindset. So it’s all being here most of the time, coming here, working, trying to either build upon myself and match the same energy at all times.