The Saskatchewan Roughriders flew to Toronto on Tuesday carrying the hopes of a Grey Cup victory and a key passenger who didn't accompany the team to Vancouver last week.
General manager Eric Tillman, who was told to stay in Regina ahead of the Canadian Football League West final after experiencing chest pains, will attend the 95th Grey Cup at the Rogers Centre on Sunday (CBC, 3:30 p.m. ET).
Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman's new lifestyle will include more sleep and a healthier diet.
(Troy Fleece/Canadian Press)
"I feel great," Tillman told the National Post on Monday. "I suffer from acid reflux and combined with what they [doctors] think I might have, the manifestations are like a heart attack.
"We all race through life thinking we're invincible, but the doctor told me several times — five times to be exact — that I'm 50 now and exercise is not enough."
Tillman spent the night of Nov. 15 at Regina General Hospital after complaining of chest pains while working at his desk at Mosaic Stadium earlier that day.
"It was like five yellow jackets [wasps] stung my chest," Tillman said of the incident. "My chest felt like it just exploded."
Doctors performed a battery of tests on Tillman that ruled out a heart attack and released him from hospital with strict orders not to fly to Vancouver for the playoff match, a 26-17 Roughriders win over B.C.
Tillman was also told by doctors to alter his lifestyle to include more sleep and a healthier diet.
He is a notorious night owl who isn't shy about his love of fast food, caffeine and red meat.
Tillman, hired by the Roughriders during the 2006 season after the firing of former GM Roy Shivers, is on his fourth CFL team.
Previously, he was GM of the B.C. Lions (1993-95), Toronto Argonauts (1997) and Ottawa Renegades (2002-2004).
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