How Ottawa Redblacks star Adarius Pickett managed to return from serious injury for CFL season opener
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'The (UCLA team) staff had open arms for me and the athletic therapist as well. I was out there running the UCLA bleachers with the head coach between 5 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. He was pushing me, I was pushing him. A lot of people came out and ran stairs with me … my brother came out, John Johnson, my barber even came out.
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'It was dope for that energy. An amazing feeling just to be surrounded by love, by energy, by support, a lot of people had a hand in me getting back to this point right now. I'm very thankful for the people who support me and surround me and just want me to be me forever.'
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Pickett says he feels 'great' now and that, once again, all football activities are like 'second nature' to him.
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'The first question I asked my physical therapist when I went back home was, 'how fast can I be back?'' he said. 'I told him I need to be back by training camp so I can practice. I said, can we make it happen? He was like, 'if you work like I know you will. I'm pretty sure we can.'
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'I had gotten up to, I think, like 225 pounds from being hurt when I couldn't do anything. Worked myself all the way down to 2012, so I lost 13 pounds over six to eight weeks. I was working out like, two, three, sometimes four times a day, making sure I'm ready for my team. And it meant a lot to me to be back here for them.'
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It meant a lot to the Redblacks, too.
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Without Pickett and safety Alonzo Addae, whose season was cut short by injury after 14 games, the Redblacks' defence was picked apart by Toronto Argos quarterback Chad Kelly in the 58-38 East Division semifinal loss.
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Addae, like Pickett, also was making his return to the roster against the Roughriders.
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Along with their talents, both brought back with them an attitude element that should aid the new defensive coordinator, William Fields, and the new defensive backs coach, Myron Lewis, both of whom were on the Argos staff last year.
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'Confidence is a huge thing,' head coach Bob Dyce said. 'And when you have strong personalities like both those young men have, it bleeds off onto the other guys. So we're extremely excited to have them both back there.
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