It might not be on the same level as Bo Jackson but Daryl Waud is giving serious consideration to trying a second professional sport.

The 25-year-old is at a crossroads after four years of professional football, three with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, where he won a 2017 Grey Cup, and one with the Ottawa Redblacks. He's not filed his retirement papers but he's fairly certain he's done with the gridiron after two serious concussions including one last season which limited him to six games with Ottawa.

As he works on completing his master's degree in sports management and leadership at the University of Western Ontario, Waud recently reached out to his former Peterborough junior A Lakers coach Tracey Kelusky, now an assistant coach with the Century 21 Lakers and NLL's Philadelphia Wings, about a potential return to lacrosse. Waud is a Hamilton native who lived at Kelusky's house while playing in Peterborough.

Sure, he says, lacrosse is a contact sport, too, with some concussion risk, but not like football. Waud stands just shy of six-foot-five and weighed 265 pounds as a lacrosse player and 285 as a defensive lineman. He's currently walking around at 270.

"I think it would be in my best interests to not play football anymore," he said, "given the position I play the main point of contact is the head. Regardless of how you spin it, as a defensive tackle your head is likely going to be hit on 95 per cent of the plays that you are in there. It's just the nature of the position. It's time for me to walk away while I still have the opportunity to without any irreversible damage being done."

Lacrosse was Waud's first sport at age three and he only gave it up because it was difficult to retain the weight required for football while playing lacrosse each summer. He had a tryout with the Washington Redskins and the financial rewards were greater in football.

"I still have a love for lacrosse and I miss it," said Waud, who has been throwing a ball around recently to sharpen his stick skills. "I'm definitely giving it some thought."

He's still dealing with some concussion symptoms so Waud is not clear how soon he'd be able to give lacrosse a serious try. It may not even be this season but he's changed his workout routine in an attempt to drop weight and improve his agility and cardio.

"My main priority is to be sure I'm OK health-wise. I'd never jump into a situation where I felt I was going to jeopardize my health if I felt I wasn't ready. You only get one brain so you have to take care of it as best you can.

"Guys can get hit in the head with a ball, a stick, an elbow, whatever it might be," he said, of lacrosse, "but I feel it's less likely that you're going to get direct trauma to the head as opposed to football where that's the norm."

If all goes well, he'd love to return to the sport and pursue a professional career.

"It would be a challenge for sure but I don't shy away from a challenge. It would be a pretty cool opportunity. If I'm going to pursue it, it's now or never. I wouldn't be able to be out of sport for years and then come back.

"I watch some of the NLL games and all the top guys in the league now are guys I played with or against. That's amazing and great for them but just a few years ago I was competing with these guys. I still have that competitive drive to play a high level of sport. We'll see. I don't know what the future holds"

Lakers GM Paul Day said he knows this is all tentative but he'd be willing to give Waud an opportunity because he's still young.

"He had a pretty good junior career and is a good athlete and is a big guy," Day said. "We're always looking for good athletes."

Day said the club's depth would allow for Waud, a defensive player, to ease back into the sport.

"We have some really good veterans around so he doesn't have to come in and be our best player. He can come in and get comfortable," Day said. "He's still a pretty young guy and can be around here for a while."

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mike.davies

@peterboroughdaily.com