Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive lineman Jake Thomas isn’t ready to hang up the cleats just yet. But the longest-serving member of the defending Grey Cup champs says the cancelled 2020 CFL season certainly “expedited” the process of preparing for life after football.
And it led him to file for his real estate licence in his hometown of Douglas, N.B., earlier this year.
Thomas says he began thinking about his post-playing days the last few years, with the idea of pursuing a career that would allow him to remain on Canada’s East Coast.
“Real estate kept popping up over and over, and before last season I wrote all my exams,” Thomas told the 680 CJOB Morning Show on the weekly edition of Breakfast with the Bombers.
The decision to embark on his new career doesn’t mean retirement is on the immediate horizon just yet for the eight-year CFL veteran, but Thomas said he will ponder that notion early in the new year.
“I’ve told myself I’m going to decide all that stuff more in January, when it’s more like a normal year — after the season,” said the former Acadia University star.
“Currently, I’d say I’m totally focused on real estate, although I’m still going to the gym. But I for sure would want to be able to fully focus on football and have that full off-season and have that football mentality starting in January.”
Thomas was the Blue Bombers’ fourth-round pick, the 29th player selected overall, in the 2012 CFL draft. He made the team in his rookie year and has gone on to play 137 games to date with 114 defensive tackles, 18 quarterback sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception.
The six-foot-two, 275-pound interior lineman also filled in on the offensive line earlier in his career and is one of the team’s most respected veterans. He admits the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly given him, and others, more time to think.
“One of the great things about playing in the CFL is it’s given me the chance in the past to job shadow and look at other careers for after football.”
“I don’t think anyone wants to be in this situation, but it’s good because it has made you realize how soon things can be taken away,” says Thomas. “I’ve been fortunate to be able to play football, basically for my entire 20s. I’ll be 30 in December, so that’s kind of creeping up.
“The first couple months of COVID I was talking to a lot of guys — the one that keeps popping up in my mind would be Justin Medlock — and we’d always be talking about our futures and stuff.”
Thomas says his first-ever CFL defensive tackle was in the 2012 season opener against the BC Lions, and it may well have been on current teammate Andrew Harris. And yes, he had a sale in his first week on the new job as well.
1:44 Grey Cup: Fans celebrating in streets of Winnipeg over Blue Bombers win
Grey Cup: Fans celebrating in streets of Winnipeg over Blue Bombers win
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
