The remarkable Craig Smith is not quickly described or profiled.
But one kind gesture captures the essence of the former Saskatchewan Roughriders director of player personnel, who passed away peacefully on Sunday in Regina after a long, determined battle with health issues. A great friend to all, he was 69.
My wife and I visited Craig and Cathy Smith at the Regina General Hospital earlier this month. Craig was bedridden and all too aware that he was in his final days, but those issues were not paramount.
“Chryssoula,” he asked, “how is your leg?”
My wife had been injured in a fall — nothing that time and physiotherapy won’t heal — and Craig’s concern was evident.
So was his love of football.
After receiving a dire diagnosis, Craig established a goal of watching CFL games that were played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Near his bedside, one could find an NFL preview magazine. Naturally.
And, of course, he wanted to talk about football.
Craig, who was born and raised in Winnipeg, loved to tell the story of his introduction to a sport that was a huge part of his life long before it became his livelihood.
“In 1962, Dad took me to the Western Final between Winnipeg and Calgary,” he told me in 2011 for a profile that appeared in the Regina Leader-Post.
“Harvey Wylie tried to kick the ball out of the end zone (following a missed field goal attempt by Winnipeg in the final minute) but missed the kick. Farrell Funston fell on the ball in the end zone for the winning touchdown … and the Bombers were going to the Grey Cup.
“I used to go to games with my uncle. He would say to me, ‘Well, Craig, what players are we going to see?’ I would say, ‘Kenny Ploen, Leo Lewis, Charlie Shepard …,’ and start rattling off all the names. I was six years old.”
As a youngster, Craig knew every CFL team’s roster by heart. Height, weight, college, hometown.
“My mother used to go crazy with all the pieces of paper I would have all over the place,” he said with a laugh. “I tried to keep on top of everything.”
That never changed, even after a series of health setbacks that began in October of 2017 when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Back in March, Craig and Cathy were conspicuous at the CFL Combine when it was held in Regina.
The Smiths were a magnet for a seemingly never-ending procession of CFL people. As much as he appreciated all the good wishes, it was his priority to take in every millisecond of the on-field workouts at the AffinityPlex.
From his wheelchair, he took notes and shuffled through assorted rosters and charts.
We chatted after the afternoon session — but only after a who’s who of Canadian professional football visited with Craig and Cathy at Hug Central.
“I never thought I’d ever get back,” Craig said. “I am so grateful for all the support people have given us. I can’t emphasize enough how great Cathy has been through my journey.
“I’ll tell you, it was fantastic to come out here. When you’re in the CFL for 20 years, you get to know a lot of people.”
Over those 20 years, he spent time with the Roughriders, Blue Bombers, B.C. Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
While with the Lions, he placed a University of North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback named Darian Durant on the negotiation list.
By the time Craig joined the Roughriders in 2010, Durant was already well-established as the team’s marquee quarterback. They shared in an unforgettable home-field Grey Cup victory on Nov. 24, 2013, at historic Mosaic Stadium.
It was the second CFL championship for Craig, who also earned a Grey Cup ring with the 2000 Lions.
Craig was also closely tied to Roughriders history before joining the Green and White. While with the Tiger-Cats, he got to know Ron Lancaster.
They routinely ate lunch together, in the cherished company of Bernie Curtis, and once upon a time travelled together to a Tiger-Cats game in Toronto.
“From the time we got out of the car to the time we got into the stadium, it was like I was walking with the prime minister,” Craig told me for another Leader-Post story, just a few days after the 101st Grey Cup Game.
“It was, ‘Hey, Ron, how are you doing?’ Everybody knew him and everybody loved him.”
The same could be said of Craig Smith as a member of the fraternal CFL community.
The closest relationship, of course, was with his amazing wife.
Craig and Cathy were married on Sept. 14, 1985. The date was chosen for the specific purpose of not coinciding with a Blue Bombers home game.
By the early 1990s, the Smiths had moved to Vancouver. They were both employed by the University of British Columbia — Cathy in communications and Craig as a computer operator.
Then, by sheer happenstance, Craig spotted a newspaper advertisement.
A coach was required for a Vancouver-area pee wee football team. Craig was quick to respond.
At that point, he had not been actively involved in football since suffering a fractured neck as a 19-year-old player with the St. Vital Mustangs juvenile squad.
Given an opportunity to renew a direct affiliation with football, coaching became an obsession. He read every possible book on coaching and football strategy. If there was a coaching clinic or a free-agent camp, you could bet the mortgage that Craig would be there.
Uhhhh, about the mortgage …
At considerable risk to the family’s finances, Craig took a leave of absence from his position at the UBC in the mid-1990s so he could immerse himself in his duties as a member of the Thunderbirds’ coaching staff.
At that point, the Smiths were heavily dependent on Cathy’s income.
“Cathy made sacrifices,” her proud husband told me for the 2013 L-P profile. “She got breast cancer in 1997 and it changed our lives, obviously.
“She said, ‘Go for your dream, because you never know when it could end.’ The philosophy was ‘go for that goal,’ and we did. It paid off.”
Informally, the Smiths were a package deal.
Cathy accompanied Craig on many of his scouting excursions.
They were based in Texas, a noted football hotbed, during many a Canadian winter.
As one who loved to travel and meet people, Craig was a natural for a player-personnel position.
He could scout players or, if need be, restaurants.
We discovered that during one visit to New York.
Until arriving in Gotham, we did not know that our springtime getaway coincided with that of the Smiths.
We hadn’t planned to vacation together but, fortuitously, it turned out that way.
There we were at a New York Yankees game, on the Staten Island Ferry, and at a midtown Manhattan steakhouse — Frankie and Johnny’s — that served one of the best meals ever.
“And do you remember the pizza?” Craig asked during our final visit.
As mentioned earlier, he had established the goal of seeing another weekend of Canadian professional football.
Three more weekends were in his future. He passed away 12 hours after Saturday’s Roughriders-Calgary Stampeders game concluded.
“My heart breaks today as my best friend and love of my life and Lexi’s dad had passed away earlier this morning,” Cathy wrote on Facebook on Sunday afternoon, acknowledging the couple’s beloved little dog.
“I am thankful that you greeted me with your beautiful blue eyes Friday morning and kisses.
I am thankful that we got to call some people, including your dad, in spite of a province-wide cell outage and you guys got to talk one more time.
“I am thankful that you were able to watch some football on the NFL Network earlier in the day.
“I am thankful that we got to spend this one more day together where we were able to tell one another we loved each other throughout the day.
“You had previously said you would like to watch a couple more games so on Saturday I put the Colts-Bengals game on and then changed to the TSN broadcast for the CFL games. I believe you heard these games.
“I love you so much my sweetie and we will see each other again one day on the other side.”