Trevor Harris was quick to throw in a Sayles pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the best,\u201d the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 starting quarterback asserted while jogging past cornerback Marcus Sayles and toward the locker room after practice on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n
Sayles\u2019 football credentials are well-established. He is, for an example, a two-time All-CFL selection.<\/p>\n
On top of that, he is an all-time nice guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of happy people,\u201d Head Coach Corey Mace said, \u201cbut he\u2019s a clip above a bunch of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Case in point: Sayles was recently on the same flight as a group of Roughriders fans.<\/p>\n
After the plane landed at Regina International Airport, one of the other passengers approached Sayles, who quickly suggested: \u201cWhy don\u2019t we get a picture?!\u201d<\/p>\n
When one of the fans prepared to take the photo, Sayles told her: \u201cYou get in it, too, and I will ask my wife to take it for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayles and his wife, Chantelle, are the proud parents of Nova, who was born in April.<\/p>\n
As a new dad, Sayles is quick to credit his own upbringing for a consistently cheerful demeanour.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom teaches southern hospitality,\u201d the 30-year-old son of Clasious and Keithress Sayles said. \u201cShe 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\u2019s how I\u2019ve always carried myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
That dates back to his formative years in Alpharetta, Ga.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really nice area to be around,\u201d the former University of West Georgia Wolves standout said. \u201cThere\u2019s good people around there all the time and I enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with everything else in life, it seems.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loves his teammates and he loves the game,\u201d Mace said. \u201cFor him to be able to marry those two, he\u2019s going to have a smile on his face all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The perpetual good nature is a trademark, to the extent that people routinely extend their compliments for his sheer sociability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good when people say that about me, because it feels like I\u2019m carrying myself the right way,\u201d Sayles said. \u201cI\u2019m Christian, too, so I always want that spirit to glow off me and other people can feel that as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The good cheer is contagious and therefore beneficial in a team environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny 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,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn saying so, Sayles isn\u2019t always nice. He picks his spots. A majority of the time, specifically here (at the stadium), he\u2019s incredible. He\u2019s a great guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hold on for a second. Let\u2019s rewind.<\/p>\n
\u201cSayles isn\u2019t always nice\u201d?<\/p>\n
This qualifies as BREAKING NEWS.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been some times when he doesn\u2019t like whatever situation is happening, he can flip a switch pretty quick,\u201d Mace volunteered. \u201cWe get on him about that a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor who he is to the core, he\u2019s excellent \u2014\u00a0A1.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Mace\u2019s comment was brought to Sayles\u2019 attention, well, he smiled. Naturally.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I do have a little switch that flips, especially when it comes down to football and the competitive nature,\u201d the seventh-year CFLer acknowledged.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t say I change at all. It just brings out the fire in me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing evokes more emotions, however, than time spent with little Nova.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when it comes to my daughter, I want to be that example for her,\u201d Sayles said leading up to Saturday\u2019s game against the host Edmonton Elks. \u201cI want her to see that I always have a smile on my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always want her to know that \u2018Daddy\u2019s either going to help me out here\u2019 or \u2018he\u2019s going to pick me up\u2019 or whatever the case may be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go home every single day and she\u2019s just so excited to see me. Little things like that lift my heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I can continue to make her smile, even when she gets a little bit older, I\u2019ll teach her these same things about respect and treating other people the way you want to be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trevor Harris was quick to throw in a Sayles pitch. \u201cHe\u2019s the best,\u201d the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 starting quarterback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-172922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}