Roughrider Cameron Judge finally sees his dad playing football

This piece was originally published Aug. 24, 2019.

It's been two weeks since the Saskatchewan Roughriders' last game, but fans are still buzzing about an earth-shattering hit laid down by Cameron Judge.

The 24-year-old linebacker's hit on Montreal quarterback Matt Shiltz will certainly be played on year-end highlight reels, but those aren't necessarily the highlights Judge has always dreamed of seeing.

To find out more about his life off the football field, CBC's Peter Mills asked Cameron Judge about his dad's football career, moving all across North Americaand the power of Martin Luther King Jr.

Finally seeing dad play

Judge's dad, Christopher Judge, played football for the University of Oregon. In 2018, Cameron told the SaskatoonStarPhoenix he had never seen any game film.

"I've never seen any plays. When me and my siblings were little ... he had a bunch of newspaper articles and stuff, so we cut them all up and put them in a scrapbook and stuff. So in high school ... I'd look through it again, just seeing the stuff he was doing. I wish I could see some of the film."

After saying that, Peter pulled out a video he found of an Oregon game against USC in 1984:

"Yeah, that's the first time I've seen him moving around in the uniform ... Yeah, man, that's the first time I've seen him actually besides a picture. That's pretty cool. Thank you for showing me that."

"I know that was a big game for him ... going back to his hometown. I think he had a good game. Or '84? I don't know but that's cool, thank you for showing me that."

Playing with blood

Judge's dad is also an actor, perhaps best known for his role as Teal'c in Stargate SG-1 and the voice of Kratos in the video game God of War. Cameron said that came with some perks as a kid.

"It was cool. I used to just always be in the special effects trailer, making fake blood and stuff, trying to make explosions or whatever," he said, laughing. It was fun."

Travellin' man

Having an actor for a father and a model for a mother meant the Judge family moved around a lot. Judge was born in Montreal, but he also lived in Vancouver and Victoria until he was about 12 years old when his family settled back in California.

"I feel like, in the moment, I didn't really think too much of it. But I was going to a lot of different schools growing up and stuff. I kind of liked it. I got to meet a bunchof different people from all kinds of places in the world."

Despite being born in Canada, Judge said moving to California during his middle school years made him feel more like an American.

"My dad is American and I connect with my dad a lot so I kind of follow his lead."

That said, Judge said he still has plenty of Canadian traits.

"Probably how I say 'bag,'" he said, laughing. "I still say 'tuque', so probably just some of the words I say. I feel like I'm a pretty polite driver too, maybe that's Canadian because I know they're not in the States."

Learning from MLK

Judge has a tattoo of Martin Luther King Jr. on his chest, but the activist's influence goes much deeper than that.

"I mean, I'm mix. My dad is black and so just being able to be a mixed person in this world now ... without people like Martin Luther King, who knows if I'd even be born?I just appreciate everything [he]and all the people who fought for civil rights were doing: sacrificing everything basically just to stand up for their people and all people, really. That's something I look up to."

Earlier this year, Judge had a chance to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park in Atlanta, Ga.

"I was visiting a teammate and staying down there, working out with him, and he was just telling me they had this site [where] you can see his house and stuff ... that was an experience I'll never forget," he said. "They had all kinds of stuff telling you about what was going down at those times. They had some of the same original houses still there from back then. And my grandma, she's from the south too and she's an older lady, so those are kind of her times. I was showing her the pictures and it kind of took her back to those times. It was just a special day for sure, especially being able to talk about it with my grandmother."

Tackling racism

Judge said he didn't have to deal with anything too severe growing up, but he's always had a unique perspective.

"I got pretty light skin, most people don't even know I'm black. But, I mean, there would be times that I'd just be with a group of white kids [and] they're saying racist-assstuff and not even knowing I'm black," he said. "It's just like, 'That's what you do behind closed doors? That's who you really are.'

"My dad always told me it was a blessing to have my light skin and I just hated hearing him say that growing up because I just know how tough it was for him growing up in South Central [Los Angeles]."

Passing on his own lessons

"If I were to talk to a little kid, I'd just say be inclusive. People you might think are different, you could share similar hobbies with them or you could even learn new things. I feel like that's the most important thing growing up is to mingle with other people, other kids to see what they're about, especially different cultures. I feel like that's a big advantage for kids to do.

"Most of the time whether it be from their parents pushing it on them or just what they see they just shut that out and just want to converse with people who look like them, do what they do and don't step out of their comfort zone or their little box and just oblivious to how the other rest of the world lives, what they go through, and I feel like it just puts them in a box."

Settling into Saskatchewan

Last season, Judge told the Piffles Podcast he experienced a bit of culture shock moving from the Los Angeles area to Regina. Growing up, he didn't know much about the province.

"I had heard about Moose Jaw growing up in B.C. There was someone from Moose Jaw. They just called him 'Moose Jaw.' Then, I remember the day I found out that it was a place, I was like, 'No way.' They were like, 'Yeah in Saskatchewan.' I was like, 'Saskatchewan?'

"I never really knew too much about it here and coming out it's pretty different than anything I've been to. But, you know, if I didn't come out here I would never have known how much I like the peace and quiet."

'How'd you hear about that?'

Peter also asked Judge some more lighthearted questions, like how he made his brother crash a moped, biting his nailsand much more. Listen below:

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The Roughriders (5-3) take on the Ottawa Redblacks (3-6) at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 24. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. CST.

MORE ROUGHRIDERS FEATURES:

• Roughriders RB William Powell still scoring big for his mom
• Roughrider Mike Edem will never forget his beloved dog
• Riders' centre Dan Clark hugging his kids extra tight after car crash
• Small town, big dreams: Nick Marshall finds stardom in Rider Nation
• Roughriders long snapper Jorgen Hus goes from 'awful' to outstanding
• Roughriders Kyran Moore proving heart is greater than height
• Roughriders Derrick Moncrief has made big sacrifices for football
• A star is reborn: Marcus Thigpen's unexpected return to the Roughriders
• Jim Hopson goes from humble beginnings to the Roughriders Plaza of Honour
• Roughriders Dariusz Bladek became a proud Canadian thanks to football
• Roughriders' Ed Gainey is a realist and a dreamer
• Roughriders receiver Naaman Roosevelt quiet off the field, explosive on it