“The hardest moment of my life”: Bomber Great Stegall when he loses his son

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Milt Stegall was a training winner as a player and stays one at the age of 55, sprinted down hills and pumped iron, not only in shape, but as a form of therapy for the challenges of life.

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However, there is no exercise known to man who has been able to free the stress since June 2.

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This is the day he lost his 20-year-old son Chase.

“Unfortunately there was no way to fix this” Winnipeg Sun From his house in Atlanta on Tuesday. “I couldn't run a few hills, lift some weights and repair them. It will be part of our lives, but we just have to try to reach a point where it does not consume us.

“Because Chase wouldn't want that.”

Stegall will take a significant step forward this week when he returns to the TSN panel for CFL programs for the first time since his son's death at Depaul University in Chicago.

It was not an easy decision for him and his wife Darlene. You also have 17-year-old son Collin Stegall to think.

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A man of faith, the Canadian football Hall of Famer, says that the divine intervention did this for him a week to return to the air waves. Because he had not checked the schedule to see where the TSN panel would be.

Of course it goes to Winnipeg, where his old team Calgary organizes.

“This was the week when it felt right,” said Stegall. “I had no idea that this was the same week in which the panel in Winnipeg would be. Some people may not believe it, but God is right there. The support and love I will get in Winnipeg, I know that I will shed a few tears. This place is so special for me and my family.”

Support for support on the entire continent has become Stegall and his family since the news. So many people who stand. It actually helps them with their grief, he says.

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However, there was nothing that could soften these first moments.

Stegall was with a former teammate when he got the news.

Chris Cvetkovic, who used to be the Long Snapper of the bomber, had brought his son to a development camp from Stegall for about 30 minutes, and the former recipient hit Cvetkovic there.

Then he got the call that changed his life.

“It's not easy,” said Stegall. “I had to call my wife, and the more difficult part was when my youngest son came home and had to tell him what happened to his hero.

“Maybe that was the most difficult moment of my life.”

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Chase was in his second year in the Soccer team at Depaul University. He had suffered a attack as a newcomer, but the Stegalls were still waiting for the results of an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.

Officials from Depaul and a funeral home in Chicago have tried to bring Chase's body to a funeral company in Atlanta.

The memorial services in both cities were also emotional and uplifting when people spoke about the kind of person he was.

“He was a special child. You have to be something special when you are Milt Stegall's son,” said Stegall. “Because I'm not the simplest parent with which I can handle.”

He made a laugh. What makes him smile remembers all stories about how Chase took care of others.

“He played high -ranking football … and many of these children are everything about what they can do better, how can they shine,” said Stegall. “But Chase was more concerned about the fact that others shone. When other children played well, he was her biggest cheerleater. I always told him: 'Chase, you have to be selfish at some point.' But it was just not in him. “

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Around 300 people visited the service in Chicago, many outside the football community, many with a story about things that chase had done for others.

Stegall used the word “gracious”.

“It was more than just being smart or sporty. Being a nice person was the most important thing in life. And he definitely illustrated an example of this that he was every day of his life.”

It makes no sense so quickly, not even for someone who believes and trusts in a higher power.

“I won't lie,” said Stegall. “I wonder how:” Keep, God, this is part of your game plan? I didn't know about it. “Every now and then I still ask.

However, give up, lose faith – these are not options.

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“I support that my wife and son need me to be as strong as possible,” said Stegall. “There are still times when I am not strong, and that's okay. I'm not a superman. I think this is the first time my wife cried me.”

On Thursday and then in Winnipeg a day later, he will return to the TV cameras and try to talk about football.

His life continues, even if his son couldn't.

It is what Chase would want.

“I've never been nervous to work on the panel,” said Stegall. “But I'm nervous right now. And I don't know why I'm nervous, but I'm nervous.”

Perhaps training helps to relieve the nerves.

The grief of the intestinal shift takes time. Probably an infinite amount.

A strong support network of relatives and friends – Stegall says that at least two or three were at home every day to check them – is a stroke of luck.

He and his wife are getting better, he says.

He can take a piece of consolation to remember the last words he told his son.

It was the day before his death, and Chase was excited and told his father about the move he and his roommates made a house outside the campus.

“I know that my last words” I love you “,” said Stegall. “I always say that.”

That will never die.

Paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca

X: @friesensunmedia

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