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Slain Stampeder's mom will bring his spirit to Grey Cup game

Renee Hill says she knows her late son, Mylan Hicks, is playing a part in the Calgary Stampeders' Grey Cup run despite not being with the team. Hill will attend Sunday's game with her family and Hicks' friends.

23-year-old Mylan Hicks shot and killed outside Calgary bar in September

Devin Heroux · CBC Sports ·
Football mom, Renee Hill, stands with the Calgary Stampeders in place of her son, Mylan Hicks. The 23-year-old died in September. (Devin Heroux/CBC News)
Renee Hill says she knows her late son is playing a part in the Calgary Stampeders' Grey Cup run despite not being with the team. 

Mylan Hicks was shot and killed outside a Calgary bar in September just hours after celebrating the team's 36-34 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The 23-year-old from Michigan State was in his first year with the Stampeders, trying to crack the roster and make his mark.

"It's bittersweet," Hill told CBCSports.ca. "I've seen Mylan win championships before and I know how he responds. A big cheer. It moved walls. He just had that type of energy.

"I felt that my son was robbed of this opportunity to win another championship."

Hicks' helmet and gloves from his time at Michigan State are on display at his mother's home. (Renee Hill)

Hill is going to be at BMO Field in Toronto for the 104th Grey Cup game this Sunday, sitting alongside her husband, Mylan's brother, sister and school friend. She said she has felt like a part of the team since Hicks was killed, getting text messages and phone calls regularly from Stampeders players.

"They call me mom. They text me and say 'Mom, I'm going to call you soon,'" Hill said. "Those teammates love Mylan. They had to have loved him because their actions line up with loving someone."

There's one teammate who has been in constant contact with Hill throughout. Osagie Odiase was Hicks' roommate in Calgary. Hill said she's going to be at the Grey Cup thanks in large part to Odiase.

Odiase and Hicks were roommates in Calgary, and Hill said they were like brothers.

"[Odiase] speaks to me every day," Hill said. "He said, 'you have to come [to Toronto].'"

"Once Mylan passed away everybody just came together," Odase told The Canadian Press. "You could feel it when you walked into the locker room."

Hicks' memory is everywhere. The Stampeders will hang his No. 31 jersey in the locker room prior to Sunday's game. Defensive back Jamar Wall changed his number from 29 to Hicks' 31 and ran back an interception for a touchdown in last Sunday's West final.

The team also texted Hill a photo of their celebration immediately after the game.

"They're holding up Mylan's jersey. My god. Putting him right there in a physical sense even though we know he's there in a spiritual sense," she said.

Hill's Michigan home is now a shrine to her fallen son. Hicks wore No. 6 while he played at Michigan State and his gloves, helmet, trophies and photos are all over the family living room. They serve as a constant reminder of his larger-than-life energy that Hill said filled every room he entered.

"The same love he exhibited [in Michigan] he exhibited in Calgary," she said. 

As for a game prediction, Hill says she knows the Stampeders are going to win.

"It's already done. I will not speak defeat. I will speak victory. I say go get it done," Hill said. 

"Like my son would say, 'smack those pads.'"

Renee Hill will attend Sunday's Grey Cup in memory of her son, Mylan Hicks. (Renee Hill)

With files from The Canadian Press

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