Arden Zwelling
CFL.ca
If Spencer Watt’s friends were expecting him to be a different person now that he’s a professional football player, they’ve got another thing coming.
“During the bye week I was talking to some of my friends back home and they were constantly chatting me up saying ‘oh, you’re a CFL player, you’re such a big star’ and all this,” Watt said. “But I don’t really feel any different. I’m still just playing football.”
True enough.
Whether at Windsor Secondary School in North Vancouver where he picked up the game, at Simon Fraser University where he honed his skills or with the Toronto Argonauts where he has turned his passion into a professional career, it’s still just football for the mild mannered 21-year-old.
Well, with one minor exception.
“I guess the only difference is that I’m playing for money now. That’s a bit different,” Watt conceded. “But it’s still a sport and I just like being on the field and being competitive. For me, not much has changed.”
That’s the motto for the laid back, west coast wide receiver — don’t take yourself too seriously, work hard every day and play good football.
The Argonauts were certainly impressed enough with his talent and work ethic to select Watt in the third round, 18th overall of the 2010 CFL entry draft, making him the fourth wide receiver off the board.
Two of the three receivers taken ahead of him went on to NFL rookie camps, and the third, the Blue Bombers’ Cory Watson, was one of the highest ranked prospects coming into the draft.
“It’s been a crazy experience getting to the pros and everything,” Watt said. “You’ll never experience anything quite like playing in a professional game.”
It’s been a quick turnaround from football newbie to professional athlete for Watt who tried on a pair of shoulder pads for the first time in grade 12.
The six-foot-two, 180-pounder actually went to Minot State for his first year of university where he competed in track and field. But after only one year in North Dakota, Watt returned to British Columbia and played out his final three years of school at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, much closer to his North Vancouver home.
Although he struggled with injuries during his time at Simon Fraser, Watt developed exponentially as a football player under the tutelage of head coach Dave Johnson and receivers coach Andrew Dubiellak, who was drafted by Edmonton in the sixth round of the 2002 CFL entry draft.
“Coach Dubiellak was a huge help. He’s been around the league so he was always talking from experience. He really helped me get drafted this year,” Watt said.
Watt had an underwhelming year for Simon Fraser in 2009, hauling in 14 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. But one of the touchdowns was a 91-yard highlight reel catch that displayed the raw skills the Argonauts couldn’t possibly pass up in this year’s draft.
Watt also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds at a scouting combine this past spring, a number that would have given him the second fastest time at the CFL’s March evaluation camp.
Watt’s blinding speed has helped him make a quick adjustment to the pace and quickness of the CFL.
“The game play is so much faster than the CIS. Everybody is an athlete,” Watt said. “In the CIS when you’re open as a receiver you have maybe two yards of space. But [in the CFL] an open play is when you’re an inch away from the defender.”
Watt found that inch in week six against the Edmonton Eskimos when he made his lone reception this season, an eight yard catch in a tight game that the Argonauts ended up winning by a single point.
“It happened so fast. It was a crazy experience,” Watt said. “All game I was pretty relaxed but once I made that catch I was running back to the huddle and my heart was pumping so fast it was hard for me to breathe.”
The adrenaline will certainly be surging again on Monday night. This is Labour Day weekend after all, which means it’s time to reignite one of the greatest rivalries in the league — the Argos and the Ti-Cats.
It was just two weeks ago that the Tiger-Cats came into Toronto and walked away with a 16-12 win in a bizarre game that saw numerous penalties, an alleged spitting incident and not a single touchdown until the fourth quarter.
Watt and his Argonaut teammates will surely be trying to keep their emotions in check for the Labour Day tilt in Steeltown — but that’s easier said than done when it comes to this rivalry.
“Every game is a big deal for us but when we play Hamilton we want that win just that much more because it’s the Ticats,” Watt said. “We try to stay the same every week but when it’s the Ti-Cats it’s just a little bit sweeter to get that win.”
This year’s Labour Day Classic couldn’t be a bigger game for both teams. The 5-3 Argonauts are just one game behind the first place Montreal Alouettes but can’t forget about the Tiger-Cats who, at 4-4, are nipping at their heels.
“This week we’re coming prepared. We’re not taking anything in practice lightly because this is such a crucial game,” Watt said. “Any win is a good win, but hopefully this week we can really dominate the Ticats.”
