The CFL playoffs.

As the Lions get set to host the Calgary Stampeders this Saturday at BC Place in the Western Division Semi-Final, it’s a tremendous opportunity for all of those involved.

The career of a football player is short – averaging usually around three years. For some players, the fact of the matter is that this might be their only shot at a Grey Cup championship.

If defeat does occur, young players have a tendency to believe that another opportunity will present itself again next season or in the near future.

A lot of times it doesn’t, but the arrogance of youth doesn’t allow for that.

Dreams of getting to the Grey Cup game are met with the reality of playing on a team that doesn’t get that opportunity. An even crueller fact is that some individuals may have played in their last football game.

Remember, we are talking on average a three-year career in the CFL.

There are the exceptions – veteran players who know the importance of these opportunities and try to relay that mindset to their younger teammates.

Players like 37-year-old quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and 36-year-old halfback T.J. Lee know how difficult it is to win a Grey Cup, seeing how neither has been able to hoist the aforementioned trophy during their career and call themselves a champion.

Between the two, that’s 23 seasons, 293 games and zero rings.

Even in a nine-team league, it’s tough to win it all.

Kicker Sean Whyte has been plying his trade since 2009 with only one Grey Cup title to his credit, which was with Edmonton in 2015.

Besides having the physical talent, you need to have chemistry among your players, which in turn cultivates an ethos that places the team above all else.

Did we mention that you have to get that lucky bounce, have a certain call go your way and avoid key injuries?

Winning the Grey Cup is the ultimate challenge for a CFL player and that’s why you see players break down with emotion after achieving their goal of becoming the best.

They’ve reached the pinnacle and they know the cost that was paid to be called a champion.

The opportunity to call yourself a champion is there.

It’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be taken for granted because you only get so many chances in your career.

So when you hear a coach talk about ‘emptying the tank’ or ‘firing every bullet’, they know if there is one thing that you don’t want to have, it’s regret.

Things happen during the course of a game. There will be peaks and valleys, but the important thing is that when you look at yourself in the mirror afterwards, you can face yourself knowing that you gave it everything you had.

I know.

You’re probably thinking – ‘thanks for the newsflash Moj’ – as common sense will tell you to give it maximum effort with your season on the line, but the human mind loves to deceive you.

It wilts when fatigue becomes a factor and its faith is tested when adversity hits.

Subconsciously, your mind will trick you into believing that there is a tomorrow when there isn’t. Even in a locker room, as you try to grasp the reality of a season-ending defeat, your mind is trying to fool you into thinking it’s just another loss, but that isn’t the case.

Reality hits you on the day that you’re supposed to be practicing and preparing for the next playoff game. Instead of being on the field, however, you are cleaning out your locker and getting ready for exit meetings.

That’s when it hits home.

This group of individuals that became a team has played its final game together.

You might return the following season, you might not, but one thing is for certain.

This team – this group of individuals that started training camp in May and that has bonded into brothers as the season wore on – won’t be the same next year.

If there is one constant in pro sports, it is change.

And that’s why you have to take advantage of this opportunity.

It might not ever present itself to you again.