This week we’re doing something different. We decided to write about some interesting things that fly under the radar with the B.C. Lions, so here are Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Your B.C. Lions.
1) Guard Sukh Chungh is the team’s unofficial DJ.
The departure of Dom Rhymes left a void on the team and we’re not talking about the receiver position.
Rhymes, you see, was the team DJ on all the flights coming home.
Enter Chungh.
“He’s OK but there is an issue in that he keeps forgetting to download the music before he gets on the plane. He’s an old man but he’s getting there,” says fullback David Mackie.
Chungh doesn’t necessarily know how he got the gig but he’s running with it.
“I have a diverse music catalogue. I can go from country to rap to EDM (Electronic Dance Music). The Punjabi is yet to come but that is going to happen. When you’re sitting in front of me (on the plane), don’t be shocked when it does,” says Chungh, now in his ninth CFL season.
And Chungh disputes the claim that he doesn’t have enough music downloaded.
“Your sources are wack. I know your source,” laughs Chungh looking at Mackie a few yards away. “I’ve actually switched my mobile plan and I am getting faster downloads.”
2) Kicker Carl Meyer and his wife house-sat for Stifler’s Mom.
Meyer is a former rugby player who is trying to crossover into football as a kicker and is currently on the Lions practice roster as a Global player.
He has played rugby in his native South Africa, Wales and France. Meyer also played in New Orleans with NOLA Gold of Major League Rugby.
It was during his time in New Orleans that Meyer and his wife (Carolyn Ray) house sat for Jennifer Coolidge and hung out on occasions with the award-winning actress.
Coolidge recently starred in two seasons of The White Lotus but is best known for her role as ‘Stifler’s Mom’ in the American Pie quartet of movies.
As Coolidge told Meyer – and is on the record in several interviews - being known as ‘Stifler’s Mom’ has had its benefits when it comes to her social life.
3) Receiver Alexander Hollins is the Lions self-proclaimed Four Square champion.
The rules of Four Square are ambiguous at best but the Lions have their own version of the game that they play every day in the locker room at the team’s Surrey practice facility.
The games get so loud that the noise from the trash talking permeates to the executive offices on the second floor.
As for those rules? Well, that’s up for debate says punter Stefan Flintoft.
“At one point last year there was a cardboard cutout with rules written on it. It was like the Ten Commandments of Four Square that Sione (Teuhema) wrote out,” Flintoft told us recently on an edition of Lions On Tap.
That codified version has disappeared.
“All I know is that they’re all sweating and yelling during their games,” adds Flintoft.
The only thing for certain is that Hollins thinks he’s the top dog.
“I’m the best. No ifs, ands or buts about it. I’m the best. They can fight for second or third place or whatever. I’m the best,” Hollins deadpanned after practice recently.
4) Center Tyler Packer is the team’s best video gamer.
Very rarely can you get a unanimous answer when you pose a question to a team but ask any Lion who the best gamer is and it’s not even close.
Center Tyler Packer.
The 6’6” 315-pound giant who hails from Calgary owns all, particularly when it comes to his game of choice which is Call of Duty.
Packer played video games growing up but really sharpened his skills during COVID to the point where he’s actually played in professional tournaments with some gaming teammates.
His gaming career is now on the back-burner, but make no mistake about it, he’s the best on the team.
5) Kicker Sean Whyte is the team’s best golfer…for now.
The Lions have some pretty good golfers on the team but Whyte takes great pride in his game - so much so that he got riled up a couple of years ago when he ‘dropped’ to fourth in a draft for a team event.
Mackie organizes a team golf outing every year but he always allows for some high handicap golfers to be captains and select the teams.
Somewhere over Manitoba on a flight home after a game back east, Whyte fell to the fourth pick overall and it didn’t sit well with the future Hall-of-Famer.
He’s the best but his reign may soon be over for a variety of factors.
Quarterback Jake Dolegala is nipping on Whyte’s heels as is Mackie, who shot a 78 from the blues at Kings Links by the Sea recently.
More importantly, Whyte will have to overcome two of the biggest challenges that face ANY golfer.
He’s getting married and he has a newborn on the way.
6) Linebacker Ryder Varga is probably the smartest player on the team.
Varga was selected by the Lions in the 2022 CFL Draft but decided to stay at the University of Regina to finish his degree in Environmental Engineering.
“I told teams I wanted to go back to school to finish my last three classes and get my degree,” said Varga.
As for being the smartest guy on the team?
“I don’t want to say that but maybe I’m the best at math,” said Varga with a laugh.
7) Defensive tackle Tibo Debaillie is the team’s resident expert on the ‘other’ football.
While Whyte jumped on the England bandwagon during Euro 2024, it’s Debaillee who is the biggest fan of the Beautiful Game.
“He (Whyte) only watched the Euros for England but Josh (Archibald) is a very big Manchester City fan as is our equipment guy Aaron (Yeung),” noted Debaillie.
Being from Belgium, it’s understandable that Debaillie loves soccer.
“My favorite team is Liverpool and back home it’s Club Brugge, who just became champions of Belgium,” said Debaillie.
8) Linebacker Bo Lokombo travelled to Kenya this past off-season with World Vision.
It has always been a dream for the veteran Lions linebacker to travel to Africa, and when World Vision was looking for ambassadors from the CFL, Lokombo pounced on the opportunity.
The foundation helps impoverished kids throughout the world and that aligned with Lokombo’s core values.
“The trip to Kenya took a couple of years to get ready for but it was something I couldn’t pass up on. It was an amazing eight days,” said Lokombo, who was joined by CFL players Miles Brown (Saskatchewan), Henoch Muamba (Toronto), Eugene Lewis (Edmonton), Dom Rhymes (Ottawa) and Tyron Vrede (Ottawa).
9) Quarterback Chase Brice was in Trevor Lawrence’s wedding party.
Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence is one of the NFL’s biggest stars and most think his B.C. connection lies with former Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke, who spent most of last season with the Jags.
But his biggest link to the Leos is current third-string quarterback Chase Brice, who spent the first three years of his college career at Clemson and backed up Lawrence for the last two.
The pair became such close friends that Brice wound up being a groomsman at Lawrence’s wedding in 2021.
“That was a really cool moment for me and him. For the longest time, it seemed it was just me, him, Ben Batson and Patrick McClure,” Brice told BCLions.com during a recent interview.
The four Clemson players developed a special bond over that short period of time. “We were always together and doing things. We’d go over to Trevor’s and shoot hoops in the garage or just hang out and watch The Office. We’d do a lot of low-key things,” noted Brice.
10) Cornerback Ciante Evans has worked the last three Super Bowls.
“It’s a contracted gig. I work for a company that handles transportation and logistics,” explained Evans.
According to Evans, the company is called the SP Plus Corporation and it provides parking facility management services. One of their contracts is with the NFL for the Super Bowl.
“I help with transportation logistics. It’s basically ingress and egress. We’ll be at a staging area and get people on buses and then send them to the stadium or wherever else they need to go. Then we will take them back to where we picked them up,” said Evans.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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