They are a series of snapshots forever running through Trey Vaval’s head like a photo gallery, many of them still so fresh and real to cause him to flinch in recollection.
Yet, he knows now how those moments also hardened him, focussed him and continue to drive him.
He vividly remembers when his mom first took ill and, after her heart condition led to her losing her job, how the family was forced from their house into his aunt’s two-bedroom apartment with his mom, sister, aunt, two cousins, and three dogs.
He remembers how ‘home base’ next became the laundry room at a family friend’s house. And from there how they would occasionally bounce around from crashing in the storage container holding their possessions some nights to others where he would settle in at a teammate’s house after football practice while his mom and sister slept in the car.
“I still remember that laundry room,” began Vaval, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers gifted kick returner/cornerback in a recent chat with bluebombers.com. “I remember all of us — me, my sister, my mom and the two dogs we had at the time — all crammed into that space. I remember the mattress we all shared; all of us on that mattress.
“There were trash bags on one side, then the bed, and on the other side the washer and dryer. At one point it was so dirty down there I got athlete’s foot and so I made sure I was showering at school every day. After that, we got kicked out and really had nowhere to go. We ended up staying up in a storage unit with all our stuff. Lots of nights we stayed there. I don’t know if we were even allowed to stay in there, but we just did what we had to do.
“All that, it messed with me mentally. That’s where my mom was s-o-o-o strong.
“Like I said, though, that really messed with me. It really f—-d with my head.”
There’s a Japanese proverb that proclaims, ‘Fall down five times, get up six’ and Vaval is living proof of the value in that fight. Certainly, lesser men would certainly have crumbled going through what he did — heck, he was still a teenager — and some stronger men, would have stumbled, too.
The obstacles in the way would have been too many to overcome, after all, and the odds simply too long.
Yet, Vaval has something else — call it drive and determination, call it perseverance, call it a simple iron will to succeed — but that conviction has helped lead him to where he is now on the eve of the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player Awards Thursday night at Club Regent Casino as a finalist for top rookie and top special teams player.
Vaval led the CFL with four kick-return touchdowns this season — two via kickoff returns, one on a punt and a fourth on a missed field goal. He led the league in punt return yardage and missed field goal return yardage and finished fifth in kickoff return yardage.
His 391 yards on missed field goal returns established a new Blue Bombers record in that department and his 128-yard missed field goal return vs. Ottawa in September was the longest in club history. On top of that, in a home win over Toronto on August 1st he became the first player in team history to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game.
If he’s fortunate, he’ll take to the stage Thursday night to make at least one acceptance speech, maybe two. And if you know the man at all, he’ll be certain to thank all those who have helped him get to where he is today as not just a bourgeoning CFL star, but a man so aware and appreciative of his surroundings.
“Even though it was tough, I tried not to get super-depressed throughout it,” he said. “I’ve had to grow up fast, man. I was waking myself up with an alarm clock to go to school since I was in kindergarten. And as much of it would ‘F’ with my head sometimes, I tried to stay positive. I mean, things could have been worse. Yeah, we didn’t have anywhere to stay, but there are people out there who can’t walk, who can’t see and even people in the hospital.
“I appreciate everything, for sure. There are so many people who have it worse. I know there have been times where I have had less than others, but it’s still a lot more than so many others have in the world. You learn to take the good out of everything.
“Yeah, we had nowhere to stay, but I was still going to school, I still had football, and I still had my mom and my sister.”
Vaval’s mom — Lori Grove — and his sister Tie’re Spearman are on the phone from their home in Blue Springs, Missouri, one of the suburbs which make up Kansas City, and where the three of them had relocated from Colorado so they could be closer to family while Lori struggled to get healthy again.
There’s strength in their voices. And pride and respect, too, especially when speaking of Trey and the winding path he has taken to professional football.
“There have been times where I don’t know how he kept going and going — especially when I got sick with a heart condition and we ended up losing everything,” began Lori. “Trey was in high school, taking showers there and still playing football. He’d stay with his buddies on the team a lot during football season and that’s when my daughter and I would sleep in the car near a lake or we stayed at the storage unit sometimes.
“We were sleeping in the car a few times, but it was warm and my daughter and I would go to the store and then have a little picnic out there and try to make the best of what we had. We weren’t crying or suicidal about it, it was making the best of what we could. I knew Trey was at school and he was OK and I had my daughter with me, so I knew we were OK. He didn’t miss any school; my daughter didn’t miss any school.
“There were several times when I was in the hospital for days, but he was always so strong through all of it. Trey was like a grown man. He always stepped up. I always tell him he’s my… I’m starting to cry here… he’s my son, but he’s been my best friend through all this.
“He’s not just been my son, he took care of my daughter, he took care of our home when we needed it,” added Lori. “There’s so much more than him than just football. He’s the one that halfway pushed me to get healthy. If it wasn’t for him, we probably would have been homeless our whole life.
“He’s a grinder. It’s such a blessing for him to be where he is now because he’s worked so hard for this.”
Vaval had a variety of college offers in his final year at Blue Springs South High School and committed to Missouri Western State — a Division II football program about 75 minutes northwest of home — so he could remain close to his mom and his sister.
“On Trey’s last day of high school, I was at home in bed,” Lori recalled. “I was really sick and called my cardiologist and said I had just passed out. He said, ‘You need to go to the hospital right now.’ But I waited because Trey was doing his college signing that day and I didn’t want to miss that for the world.
“I went to Trey’s signing and then I told him afterward what had happened and he said. ‘Get in the car. Let’s go to the hospital.’”
Three years later — and with Lori’s health now improved courtesy a pacemaker — he transferred to Minnesota State. And as close as Vaval is to his mom, he and his younger sister Tie’re also talk almost every day, their relationship forged when their mother was working as a nurse and he would take care of her at home.
“I’m so proud of him,” said Tie’re. “Everything happens for a reason. I wonder sometimes if the predicament we were in is part of what gave him the drive he has.
“And now that I’m 20 I appreciate him even more because I’ve seen so much fake in people. Trey is the purest thing I’ve ever had in my life. I cherish every moment, every breath, every second I have with him.
“We’ve all come a long way. Now that he’s there and having success… that’s all his doing. That’s his hard work.”
Vaval earned All-MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association) honours as return specialist in 2019 at Missouri Western, played in two games in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shone again in 2021 before moving to Minnesota State, where he was twice named All-NSIC (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) First Team as a defensive back and return specialist.
Yet, even through all this, more difficult times. Three of Vaval’s friends — Colby Stephenson, Nikko Manning and Khalil Osborne — lost their lives due to gun violence when he was in high school and then college.
“It seemed like every time he came home we were burying one of his best friends,” said Lori. “All of this made him stronger. That woke him up a lot, too, to see that every time he came home.”
Indeed, Vaval became driven even more and, ultimately, his success at Minnesota State earned him a look from the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 as an undrafted free agent. He lasted through most of training camp before his release. And, here again, he was tested.
“After he came home from the Falcons, we didn’t talk to him about it,” his mom said. “It was the first time he hadn’t played football since he was four and I knew the motors were running in his head. ‘What am I going to do with my life? I’m back at home with my mom and I don’t have a job…’ All that stuff.
“I sat and watched him evolve, though, and then saw that drive in him again. He kept going to the gym every single day. He grinded hard the whole time he was home. He didn’t give up on it. He was running all around the neighbourhood, he was at the gym, he was even training my older son. He just didn’t give up and kept waiting on someone call him. I knew he was down and out and distraught, but we let him be. He was quiet, more than normal, and we knew why — he didn’t know what was going on with his life and if he was ever going to play football again.
“Then he got that call from Canada.”
Vaval arrived in Winnipeg for Blue Bombers training camp hoping only to somehow wedge his foot in the door. It wasn’t about starring at first, it was simply about making the roster in any capacity.
CFL veteran Peyton Logan had been signed in free agency by the Blue Bombers to bring some life to the kick return game but was injured in training camp. That was the crease Vaval needed.
The Toronto game in early August — he had two touchdowns before halftime — served as his welcome to the CFL moment.
Yet afterward in the celebratory locker room he spoke of his struggles in handling the transition to pro football. How to fit in, how to meet expectations and honour teammates — all the pressures and stresses which come with being a pro.
He had fumbled twice in earlier games — he would then spend extra time after practice with running backs coach Andre Bolduc on ball-security drills — and spoke of how kicker Sergio Castillo had messaged Bible verses and scripture to him every morning, vowing that he was soon going to bust a return for a touchdown.
As an inspiration, he wrote ‘2004’ on the tape across his nose as a reminder that he’s been playing football since that year and to “relax, take a deep breath and you’re built for this moment. Trust your teammates and just be a Blue Bomber.”
This is a massive part of what makes Vaval tick. There’s his desire to succeed, absolutely, but he’s also driven to make all those around him — every single person — proud of what he does.
Every rep in practice, every snap in a game, every interaction with those around him.
“Our past, the way he grew up, me being a single mom, us struggling, being homeless, sleeping in cars… you’d never know any of that unless you really knew us,” Lori explained. “But it pushed him to be the person he is now. I’m not saying this just because I’m his mom, but I’ve never heard a single person say of him that he’s disrespectful or mouthy, a jackass, a jerk, or hateful. Every single person talks about how respectful he is, how he’s been such a good kid and that I’ve raised him right.
“It’s special about how much he cares about others. I’ve been around sports my whole life, too, and there are some real assholes out there, people that are ‘I’m all this and that.’ Trey could care less about any of that.
“I have to tell you something,” she added. “Since Trey went up there, he looks so happy. I see him laughing on TV and hugging his coach. I’ve seen how he has been with his roommates and he loves those guys. He’s loved where he’s at and he loves it up there.
“He’s been happier up there than I’ve seen him in a long, long time. He’s working, he and his roommates did everything together. He loves the guys on that team.”
Hundreds of players venture north to Canada for an opportunity like the one Vaval earned. It could be said not many are as aware of how fine that line is — not just to get that shot, but to then stick.
Camps are short. There is the Canadian ratio to consider. You need to grab hold of any opportunity and squeeze. Vaval has done all of that, all while being aware of everyone who has played a role in this. His mom, who did absolutely everything she could to help. His sister, who would slip him a few dollars for gas money from her part-time job when she was a teenager.
Next, a simple question which delivered a complex answer: what’s driving Trey Vaval?
“I want to be the best for my teammates, man,” he said. “I mean Wade (Miller), the team president… he had us over to his house for Thanksgiving. I want to be the best for him. He didn’t have to invite me over to his house and his family. That stuff, that gives me family vibes and if you’re part of my family I don’t want to let you down.
“My teammates, my coaches, I don’t want to let them down. My mom and my sister, I do everything for them, and I don’t want to let them down. I want to make sure I’m being my best for them. One day I’d like to be able to take care of them as much as I can.
“All the trainers — I’m cool with Al (Couture, head athletic therapist) — but I don’t want to let him and the trainers down by f—–g up. Everyone in this organization, I don’t want to make any of you feel foolish by something I do or don’t do.
“I take in everything around me and it all drives me. I see Evan Holm with his wife and his daughter coming to our games… that’s a beautiful thing to me and that makes me want to go harder, too.”
Vaval paused for a moment here and as he gathered his thoughts he raised his index finger in a hold-on-for-a-second gesture.
“Honestly, man,” he said, his face then breaking into a smile, “I didn’t know things could be this good. I’m happy here and I’m thankful.”