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He had heard from the Redblacks after he was released by the Bears in 2016, but said he’d like to wait for another NFL opportunity. While recovering from an ankle sprain after being released by Calgary in June, Mason took another call from the Redblacks. This time he jumped at the opportunity.

“You can tell he’s athletic and he can rush the passer,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said. “He’s new to this league and he’s figuring things out as he goes. There’s been a long line of good players that keep getting better as the practices and games go by. He looks like a guy who has potential. He’s done a good job for us. He’s filled in because we had some guys down. He’s a good pickup for us. He’s got a bright future.”

While he’s hoping he has plenty more professional football mileage left on his journey, Mason is grateful to those who helped him get where he is so far.

“Every game day I step onto the field, I just tell myself, ‘Man, I made it.’ I feel blessed,” he said. “I wear the name on the back of my jersey for my family and the people that supported me along the way. It’s bigger than me. It really took a community to get me where I’m at today so I can wear the red and black.”

When Mason was growing up in Portland, Ky., a town just northwest of Louisville, his mom Tonya worked a lot of hours as a hairdresser, but grandmother Linda Powell was always there to help.

“It was like my sister’s best friend’s dad who drove me to practice and brought me home. My mom did as much as she could. She’s my No. 1 fan,” Mason said. “When I’m out here and standing on my feet, I’ll be tired. I think about my mom — she’s standing on her feet working, she clothed me and fed me — this is nothing.”

He has also reconnected with his father, Danny.

“I look at a lot of stories about successful people like Ray Lewis, like Jay-Z … I ask myself, ‘Why not me?'” Mason said. “Why can’t I have that kind of success on and off the field and build the life I want? In the back of my mind is Hall of Fame. Ray Lewis in his Hall of Fame speech said that he was living proof that nothing was impossible. I want to be that sign of hope. I look at myself as that spiritual traveler to give hope to the next kid whose back is to the wall.”