Interview with former Edmonton Eskimo Jed Roberts

I met Jed Roberts, former tackle for the Edmonton Eskimos this morning. He’s been touring Peace Wapiti schools telling kids to stay in school. Look closely, and you will see I am holding a Calgary Stampeders football. 
Here’s my story:
WEMBLEY -­ Former Edmonton Eskimo Jed Roberts has come a long way since his first CFL game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders when he committed a gridiron goof.
After a dismal play in the first quarter, defensive tackle Roberts ran to the sideline, sat down on the bench and put his head between his hands.
A few hard pokes in his ribs from the player on his left forced the angry Roberts to turn to his teammate and ask what was bothering him.
“Waddaya want?! I’m having a bad day! I don’t need this right now!”
The player responded: “You must be the stupidest rookie out there.”
“Why?” a bewildered Roberts replied.
Former Edmonton Eskimo Jed Roberts poses with Helen E. Taylor students Friday. Roberts spoke to schools in the Peace Wapiti Public School Division about the importance of staying in school last week.
The player pointed across the field. “Because your bench is over there.”
Telling the story now gets many appreciative laughs from the students at Helen E. Taylor school Friday in Wembley. But at the time, it was humiliating, especially since Roberts had to walk all the way around the field to get to his team’s bench.

Roberts, 42, went on to play 13 seasons, from 1990­2003, with the Esks, including the 1993 Grey Cup win. During that time, he helped develop the Eskimo’s Stay in School program in the early 1990s.
“It was something my dad really pushed me to do to go out and speak,” said Roberts, whose father is former Ottawa Rough Rider, Jay Roberts, who played seven seasons with that club in the 1960s.
“He wanted me to get out there and think about life after football because it can end tomorrow. He wanted me to utilize as much of that as I could to give back to the community.”
Roberts said when his father heard he was going to Edmonton, he told him it’s a community­run team.
“The people that live in that city will respect you and they will appreciate it if you give back your time to the community,” said Roberts.
Though he’s not going out into schools as much as he did when he played, Roberts does take time away from his job as a child and youth worker to get his message out to students. Last week, he visited several Peace Wapiti Public School Division classrooms.

Peers and Family
“The best role models can be your peers and their family,” said Roberts. “I never really met anyone famous when I was young.”
Roberts was born in Ottawa and spent his childhood in Tennessee and Colorado Springs. Roberts’ parents split up when he was six, and he lived with his mother most of his childhood.
“Nobody really came to my school so I had to really look at my mom who raised three kids on her own for the bulk of our upbringing,” he said. “She went to school got a degree and really improved things for herself so I was able to see the benefit of hard work.”
Roberts said role models are right within our reach.
“It’s nice to have posters on the walls of superstars but very often the best role models they can have are right in your classroom or right in your own home,” he said.
But that was not the only message Roberts brought to the students. Roberts was faced with hurdles from the time he was born.
“I had to take the long road learning how to speak at age five, learning to read and talk,” said Roberts, who was born with nerve defects in both ears which is classified as profound hearing loss. He spent countless hours in the Resource Room getting extra help from teachers.
“When I was in school, I was kind of irritated about having to do that,” he said. “But the older I got, the more I realized that the teachers were pushing me because they saw something in me that I didn’t see.”
Roberts fell in love with the game of football. It was another way for him to connect with his father. He was awarded a scholarship to the University of Northern Colorado, where he graduated with a degree in English.

These days, Roberts is a child and youth care worker at a group home in Edmonton. He has four children and helps out with the Edmonton Eskimo Football 101 and 201.
“It’s pretty easy to learn a trade and make a good wage,” he said. “The industry is so up and down, even if you are a tradesman making thousands of dollars. The next day you could be out of work. It’s worth getting a college education so you can go on to do something else.”

1 Comment

  1. So very true Mr. R OBERTS, I AS A TRADE WORKER for 40 years found myself unable to work in one slip of my foot:(. So very important to have university degree and many people have obstacles to learning but don’t let it deter you. My doctor is dyslexic

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