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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tB.C. Lions’ Ayden Eberhardt, left, breaks a tackle by Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ Will Sunderland during the second half of a CFL football game, in Vancouver, on Friday, September 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Darryl Dyck<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019d told me when all of that was going down that I\u2019d be playing pro football I probably would\u2019ve questioned you a bit,\u201d Eberhardt said. \u201cIt (diagnosis) made rehab much trickier trying to figure out what I could eat to be able to recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m super thankful for everyone who\u2019s helped me get here. I love B.C. and playing in the CFL. It\u2019s all surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without insulin, glucose can\u2019t enter cells to be used for energy, which can lead to a dangerous sugar buildup in the bloodstream. Type 1 diabetics must take insulin either via injection or an insulin pump to manage their blood sugar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crazy because I went almost a year of recovery and testing foods to see what I could eat and how I must dose for different things,\u201d Eberhardt said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not easy and I\u2019d say I\u2019m still learning how to manage my sugar levels and make sure they\u2019re in line through practice and meetings and what can I eat that helps and doesn\u2019t help for games.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it has helped because as a professional athlete diet is very important and I have to think about mine quite a bit so it\u2019s beneficial knowing what I\u2019m eating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eberhard allows himself cheat days to indulge in such treats as ice cream. But not sushi, at least for now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat breaks my heart because I absolutely love sushi,\u201d he said. \u201cBut rice messes me up quite a bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing is you just have to know how to dose for it, that\u2019s kind of the motto I\u2019ve been living by. I haven\u2019t taken that leap yet (for sushi) but I need to and I\u2019m going to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The six-foot-one, 200-pound Eberhardt signed with B.C. in February 2023 and played in two games as a rookie. He appeared in all 18 regular-season contests last year, recording 41 catches for 639 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt comfortable last year but being 100 per cent honest, I think the game has slowed down for me now, whether it\u2019s coverages, what to look for, how to play against different leverages,\u201d Eberhardt said. \u201cObviously as time goes on you get more and more comfortable but I\u2019d say this is probably the most comfortable I\u2019ve been up here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another reason for Eberhardt\u2019s comfort level is familiarity. He has been teammates with Keon Hatcher Sr., Justin McInnis and Jevon Cottoy since arriving in B.C. and is in his second season with Stanley Berryhill III.<\/p>\n
And Canadian starter Nathan Rourke is in his second season after returning to B.C. last August following NFL stints with New England, the New York Giants and Atlanta.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to be able to pick each other\u2019s brain during practice and games if we (receivers) see something we weren\u2019t expecting or is new or different and how to play off of it,\u201d Eberhardt said. \u201cNate is a great leader who plays his butt off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see how much he puts into the game and how bad he really wants to win \u2026 and as other people on the team see that, it motivates everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
B.C. leads the CFL in net offence (408.3 yards per game) and stands second in passing (307.9). But the Lions are also fourth in rushing (106.4 yards) and boast the league\u2019s leading runner in James Butler (619 yards, 5.5-yard average, five TDs).<\/p>\n
\u201cAyden is an outstanding high-character individual whose talent on the football field has been evident this season,\u201d said Kenny Kim of Summit Athletes, Eberhardt\u2019s Florida-based agent. \u201cHe plays the game with a lot of passion and grit.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cAyden has made considerable strides in overcoming initial challenges. His commitment to hard work is yielding a lot of success and he\u2019ll continue to perform at a very high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s been a roller-coaster season for B.C. (3-5). The Lions have lost two straight heading into Thursday night\u2019s game versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-2) at Hamilton Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re so close,\u201d Eberhardt said. \u201cWe\u2019ve shown flashes, I just don\u2019t think we\u2019ve played a full complementary game as a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think once that happens and it clicks, then we\u2019ll be rolling and it will continue from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Resiliency has led Ayden Eberhardt to where he\u2019s at. The 27-year-old American receiver is enjoying a solid season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-51683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51683","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=51683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}