What a Weird Week For Me

Man, what a weird week this has been for me as a sports fan.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a massive Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Seahawks fan. And if you don't know me personally but have read enough of my writing (for some reason), you've probably figured that out by now anyway.

The reason this week felt so strange is because when you grow up as a sports fan, you become emotionally attached to certain players. You look up to them. They become part of your daily life. In a weird way, they almost feel untouchable. Kind of like superheroes.

And when you're young, you never really think about the day they'll be gone.

On Monday, Brendan Gallagher announced that he will be leaving the Montreal Canadiens this summer. While it wasn't exactly unexpected, it still hit me harder than I thought it would.

As someone who follows the team closely, the writing had been on the wall for a while. Gallagher has one year left on his contract. He was getting scratched during playoff games. You knew his time in Montreal was coming to an end.

But that doesn't make it any easier.

Part of the reason Gallagher has always meant so much to me is because I followed him before he ever played for the Canadiens.

Growing up in the Vancouver area, I used to go to Vancouver Giants games and watch Gallagher dominate the WHL. He was the captain, one of the best players in franchise history, and when I found out he was a Canadiens prospect, I immediately decided I was going to follow his career.

At the time, I didn't even know what a fifth-round pick was. I was probably eight or nine years old and may have honestly thought fifth-round meant fifth overall.

And then once I found he didn't just play for Vancouver, he was also from the area, it was over, he had a fan for life.

I watched him make the jump to the NHL in 2013 wearing No. 73. I watched him exceed every expectation anyone had for him. He became a 30-goal scorer. He became the heart and soul of the Canadiens. He threw his body around every single night and played the game with a level of fearlessness that made him impossible not to admire.

When he switched to No. 11, I started wearing No. 11 too.

That's how much of an impact he had on me as a young hockey fan.

Now, for the first time in over a decade, I'm going to be watching the Canadiens without Brendan Gallagher on the roster.

Even when it became obvious that he couldn't keep up with the younger core anymore, part of me still wanted him in the lineup. Maybe it was because I felt he had earned that respect. Maybe it's because he's one of my favourite Canadiens of all time.

Whatever the reason, it's just going to feel weird seeing him in another jersey.

I'll write more once he's officially moved elsewhere, but for now I just want to say thank you, Brendan.

Thank you for everything you gave to the Canadiens.

But as strange as that was, it wasn't the only thing this week that made me feel old.

Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson officially announced his retirement from after 14 seasons in the NFL and will be joining CBS as an analyst.

Again, this wasn't unexpected.

But it still felt weird.

When I first started getting into football, Russell Wilson was the quarterback of the Seahawks. He was the face of the franchise. He was leading Seattle to Super Bowls and competing for championships every year.

The things he did at his size felt impossible.

He was a third-round pick who defied every expectation placed on him. In his prime, I genuinely believe he was one of the best quarterbacks in football. His peak may not get remembered the same way as some of the all-time greats, but if you watched him during those years in Seattle, you know how special he was.

The moon balls. The improvisation. The deep passing ability.

To this day, I still think he's one of the best deep-ball throwers the NFL has ever seen.

My relationship with Wilson became complicated toward the end because I didn't love the way things ended in Seattle. Looking back, I think his ego ultimately hurt him. I don't think he fully realized that the Seahawks were trying to protect him and put him in positions to succeed.

Once he left Seattle, the harsh reality of the NFL hit quickly.

Denver gave up a fortune to acquire him and expected immediate results. Those results never came. After that, he bounced around the league and finished his career as a journeyman with stops in Pittsburgh and New York.

Ten years ago, that's not how I imagined Russell Wilson's career ending.

But over the last few seasons, you could see it coming.

And honestly, he'll probably make more money talking about football than he would have holding a clipboard as a backup quarterback.

Still, seeing Wilson retire and Gallagher leave Montreal within the same week made me realize something.

I'm entering a new phase as a sports fan.

And while that might sound silly to some people, I don't really care.

Earlier this week, I wrote about how it's cool to care.

This is exactly what I meant.

Sports fans get attached to players. We follow their careers for years. We feel like we know them, even though we obviously don't. They become part of our routines, part of our memories, and part of what made us fall in love with sports in the first place.

Then one day they're gone.

Gallagher won't be wearing a Canadiens jersey anymore.

Wilson won't be playing football anymore.

Even though Wilson hasn't been a Seahawk for a while, it was always nice checking in to see how he was doing. Now that chapter is officially over.

I hope Seattle welcomes him back someday. I've always believed his number should be retired. It probably won't be, but in my opinion, he's the greatest Seahawk ever.

And when Gallagher returns to Montreal with his new team next season, I hope he gets the standing ovation he deserves.

Neither of these announcements surprised me.

But that doesn't make them any less strange.

For the first time in a long time, it feels like an era of my sports fandom is ending.

Maybe that's part of growing up.

Maybe that's just sports.

Either way, I'm going to embrace it.

It's cool to care about things.

And these are two players I've cared about for a very long time.

So thank you, Russ, for everything you did for the Seahawks.

And thank you, Brendan, for everything you did for the Canadiens.

I wish both of you nothing but the best moving forward, and I hope your former teams give you the welcome back you deserve whenever you're back in the building.