Tyson Middlemost gets all Hamilton-y when he recalls his years with St. Mary’s Crusaders in the city’s tough Catholic league, one of the best high school football conferences in the entire country.
“It was a unique team because we didn’t have a lot of people and we also didn’t have a lot of guys who had played football outside of high school,” said the sixth-year CFL wide receiver who signed with his hometown team as a free agent.
“So sometimes we’d pull up to games with 20 guys, maybe 25, almost a volleyball team. But with the amount of grit and dedication that these guys had, sometimes we were able to overcome the disadvantage but sometimes when we’d play teams like Saint Thomas More, they just had too much.”
Still, his age group did break a nine-year losing streak in junior and one season made the playoffs in senior, losing out to powerful Cardinal Newman which, like More, was often a nationally-rated powerhouse.
The 28-year-old native of Dundas went on to play and start for McMaster Marauders. He was chosen in the fourth round by the Calgary Stampeders 34th overall in the 2020 Canadian draft, seven spots behind fellow Hamiltonian, and new Ticat teammate, Tyler Ternowski.
Each CFL off-season—four of them with the Stamps, last year when he followed Calgary special teams coordinator Mark Kilam to his new head coaching gig in Edmonton—Middlemost has returned to Hamilton. He’s Steel City all the way, even more so after officially signing with the Cats in the first hour of free agency.
“For sure,” he says. “Born at Mac, played Hamilton Panthers and Junior Ticats, went to St. Mary’s, even did some summer school and night school at Cathedral. Played for the Marauders and when I was young I was a big fan of Dave Stala so I went to his receiving camps.
“Everything I do is in Hamilton and my family is from Hamilton so I don’t consider myself anything else and obviously it feels awesome to be coming to the Ticats. The city and the people who shaped how you played football and maybe why you play football, you get to play in front of again or for the first time. It will be a cool experience.
“I’ve always wanted to play in Hamilton and I think if I could do anything to help Hamilton win a Grey Cup, I think that would mean a lot more to me and to my family than maybe some other destination. It just seems like a great team and a great culture and I wanted to be part of that.”
The Ticats were interested in Middlemost last year but he decided to sign in Edmonton, where he was a depth receiver on offence with 34 yards on just five catches and continued his excellent run of special teams play. He made eight tackles on special teams, giving him 30 over the past four seasons. Despite playing only a couple of games on the main special teams unit in his final year at Mac, he has been a mainstay in the CFL, and will play a central role for the Ticats’ Co-Special Teams Coordinators in Bob Dyce and newly-promoted coordinator James Tuck this year.
“I actually think I can do better on special teams this year,” Middlemost told Ticats.ca. “I feel like I’ve underplayed it a bit. I still think I have a lot more room to grow and get better. I guess that’s the same as any player … trying to prove yourself.
“It’ll be cool to bring my edge and style of play back to Hamilton where, in a way, I learned it. Hopefully the team and the fans appreciate how I play that role.”
He has been a regular on all the “big four” special teams (punt and kickoff returns and coverage). Despite his impressive tackling stats as a gunner (a downfield tackler located wide on either side of the field) defending against the opposition’s runbacks, a big part of his repertoire is on his own team’s returns where he helps in blocking and setting up runs with open-field blocks and helping double-team in the primary return alley.
“I think one area I want to develop is being more aggressive because at times I’ve been the ‘contain’ player, the responsible player in a sense,” he says. “So I think given the responsibility to go for it I can do even more to make tackles. I’ve been in different positions, and I’ll do whatever Hamilton wants me to do.”
There’s also the offensive side of the game and Middlemost says he welcomes coming into a receiving corps which not only has Bo Levi Mitchell holding the baton to direct the orchestra, but which is deep in Canadians. Kiondré Smith is back after his 1000-yard season, and there’s also Ternowski, and Shedler Fervius, plus running backs Johnny Augustine and Ante Litre, who are proficient at play-action receptions.
“They’re giving Canadians the opportunity to show what they’ve got and as a player what you want in the end is simply an opportunity,” he says. “So the fact that they’re giving Canadians a chance and are putting them out there to try to win a spot is obviously a great thing. It’s something they’re pushing for.
“There are obviously some great athletes there so there is a lot of competition but you kind of want that. It’s something that drives you as a player, as a person. You always want to go against good competition and at the same time they’re on your team, and you want great players on your team.”
“When I look at the Ticats I see a team that is hungry and they’re right on the edge of being great. I haven’t got to play against them a ton, but you can tell that maybe one or two pieces can bring them to a Grey Cup win. And I’d love to be part of it.”
