Trevor Harris was quick to throw in a Sayles pitch.
“He’s the best,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ starting quarterback asserted while jogging past cornerback Marcus Sayles and toward the locker room after practice on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium.
Sayles’ football credentials are well-established. He is, for an example, a two-time All-CFL selection.
On top of that, he is an all-time nice guy.
“There are a lot of happy people,” Head Coach Corey Mace said, “but he’s a clip above a bunch of them.”
Case in point: Sayles was recently on the same flight as a group of Roughriders fans.
After the plane landed at Regina International Airport, one of the other passengers approached Sayles, who quickly suggested: “Why don’t we get a picture?!”
When one of the fans prepared to take the photo, Sayles told her: “You get in it, too, and I will ask my wife to take it for us.”
Sayles and his wife, Chantelle, are the proud parents of Nova, who was born in April.
As a new dad, Sayles is quick to credit his own upbringing for a consistently cheerful demeanour.
“My mom teaches southern hospitality,” the 30-year-old son of Clasious and Keithress Sayles said. “She always instilled in us to have respect for other people and to carry yourself with honour and respect. She always treated people right and that’s how I’ve always carried myself.”
That dates back to his formative years in Alpharetta, Ga.
“It’s a really nice area to be around,” the former University of West Georgia Wolves standout said. “There’s good people around there all the time and I enjoy it.”
Along with everything else in life, it seems.
“He loves his teammates and he loves the game,” Mace said. “For him to be able to marry those two, he’s going to have a smile on his face all the time.”
The perpetual good nature is a trademark, to the extent that people routinely extend their compliments for his sheer sociability.
“I feel good when people say that about me, because it feels like I’m carrying myself the right way,” Sayles said. “I’m Christian, too, so I always want that spirit to glow off me and other people can feel that as well.
“If I can continue to make people smile with what I continue to do on the field as well, it just uplifts people. That just makes my day as well.”
The good cheer is contagious and therefore beneficial in a team environment.
“Any energy you give anybody anywhere, such as when you greet somebody with a smile, it kind of changes the temperature of whatever situation it is,” Mace said.
“In saying so, Sayles isn’t always nice. He picks his spots. A majority of the time, specifically here (at the stadium), he’s incredible. He’s a great guy.”
Hold on for a second. Let’s rewind.
“Sayles isn’t always nice”?
This qualifies as BREAKING NEWS.
“There have been some times when he doesn’t like whatever situation is happening, he can flip a switch pretty quick,” Mace volunteered. “We get on him about that a little bit.
“For who he is to the core, he’s excellent — A1.”
When Mace’s comment was brought to Sayles’ attention, well, he smiled. Naturally.
“Sometimes I do have a little switch that flips, especially when it comes down to football and the competitive nature,” the seventh-year CFLer acknowledged.
“Things just get riled up throughout a game. There is a little fuse that goes back and forth, but I keep it contained and just keep everything on the field.
“I don’t say I change at all. It just brings out the fire in me.”
Nothing evokes more emotions, however, than time spent with little Nova.
“Even when it comes to my daughter, I want to be that example for her,” Sayles said leading up to Saturday’s game against the host Edmonton Elks. “I want her to see that I always have a smile on my face.
“I always want her to know that ‘Daddy’s either going to help me out here’ or ‘he’s going to pick me up’ or whatever the case may be.
“I go home every single day and she’s just so excited to see me. Little things like that lift my heart.
“If I can continue to make her smile, even when she gets a little bit older, I’ll teach her these same things about respect and treating other people the way you want to be treated.”