Arden Zwelling
CFL.ca
It was a bold prediction for someone who hadn’t even played a CFL game yet.
But when Shomari Williams was drafted in May he told reporters he thought the Saskatchewan Roughriders had a good chance of making it to the Grey Cup. Six months later — look where they are.
“It’s crazy. I know when I got drafted I said that to the media. But now that we’re actually there it’s still not something that you ever just expected to happen,” Williams said from Edmonton where the Roughriders have been since Tuesday, preparing for the most important game of their season.
366 days after he won the 2009 Vanier Cup with the Queen’s Gaels, Williams is back in a championship game, this time with the Roughriders who will battle the Montreal Alouettes Sunday for the most coveted prize in Canadian football — The Grey Cup.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me — how crazy it would be to win both back-to-back,” Williams said.
“If we win the Grey Cup this week I’d have two nice big championship rings — one for ’09 and one for ’10 — from one of the highest competitive sports you can play in Canada. That would be really special.”
Indeed it would. There’s a long list of players who have won both trophies but to do it in back-to-back years is a feat not many have accomplished. Ironically, one of Williams’ opponents Sunday, Alouettes offensive lineman Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, did it last year.
But Brodeur-Jourdain wasn’t a number one pick. And he wasn’t a regular player until this year when incumbent centre and CFL veteran Paul Lambert went down to injury.
Williams, on the other hand, only had to wait until halfway through his first season to get his first start. Plus he’s had the eyes of a nation — not just the Rider nation — on him since he was drafted first overall in the 2010 CFL Entry Draft in May.
Saskatchewan fans had high expectations for Williams to help lead the team back to the Grey Cup after the team’s disappointing loss in 2009’s championship game. It seems almost fitting that the recent Vanier champion has not only brought the team back to the big game — he has his eyes on winning it.
“I definitely know that this is special. It might not happen again. I can’t rely on it to happen again or expect it to happen again,” Williams said. “So I have to savor this moment and try to win the championship right now.”
Williams has been drawing on his Vanier Cup experience throughout the CFL playoffs. Like the Riders, Williams’ Queen’s Gaels had anything but an easy trip to the national championship in 2009.
They scraped by the Western Mustangs 43-39 in the Yates Cup, thwarting a last minute drive by Michael Faulds and the Mustangs to seal the victory.
A week later in the Mitchell Bowl, the Gaels shocked the nation, escaping with a 33-30 upset victory over the Laval Rouge et Or on the back of eight sacks, three and a half by Williams who also added eight tackles.
Finally, in the Vanier cup against the Calgary Dinos, the Gaels went into the locker room at half time down 25-7. But in the second half, Williams and the defence stiffened, holding the Dinos to just six points as the offence put up three touchdowns and gave the Gaels a 33-31 come-from-behind victory. Williams finished the game with five tackles.
“The same kind of things that happened at Queen’s happened here. We’ve really been battle tested. We’ve learned how to win when we’re losing and how to win when we have a slim lead,” Williams said. “You have to keep on fighting. In the playoffs that’s even more important.”
That deep CIS playoff run last year was why Williams hardly batted an eye this season when his Roughriders had to come from behind against the BC Lions in the West Division semifinal and hold on to a slim lead against the Calgary Stampeders in the West final last weekend.
He had been there before.
“That’s one of the biggest things I have learned from Vanier last year. In championships, it might look rough but you’re never really out of a game,” Williams said. “It’s all the experiences that you’ve had — they lead you to this moment. That’s why I know that even though the Grey Cup is going to be way more electric than it was for the Vanier — I still have to prepare the same way.”
Part of those preparations for Williams includes keeping a low profile in Edmonton, much like he did in Quebec City ahead of the Vanier Cup last year.
“I can’t lose focus. Being in Edmonton — I’m just going to try to enjoy the experience but not get caught up in it too much. It’s still a business trip,” Williams said. “I want to make sure I come home with a win and don’t just come home with memories.”
Of course, Williams has an interesting perspective coming into the 98th playing of the Grey Cup. He wasn’t around for Saskatchewan’s notorious loss in last year’s championship — a topic that is sure to follow the team around all week.
That means he won’t be out for redemption when he takes the field on Sunday.
“I don’t think anybody is any more motivated because we lost last year. We’re motivated because we want to win it and we want to be the best this year. Last year was a different team and we have to turn the page on that,” Williams said.
Williams is right — the Riders are a dramatically different team this year having lost several players in the offseason. Half the coaching staff was also replaced, including special teams coach Kavis Reed who took blame for fielding the notorious 13th man in the dying seconds of last year’s game.
But most of the players in the Roughriders locker room were on the team in 2009 and everyone has a different way of handling the loss that the Roughriders will be constantly reminded of until Sunday.
Williams just tries to keep his head down and prepare like it is any old football game this weekend.
“I just listen and try to take in how everybody deals with it. It’s different looking at it from the outside,” Williams said. “I’m a little naïve in that sense because I just focus on right now. I don’t really fully understand the magnitude of everything yet.”
Surely Williams will understand the significance of playing in Canada’s biggest game come Sunday when he takes the field in front of 60,000 screaming fans at Commonwealth Stadium.
It’s expected that Rider Nation will travel well — as they always do — but the thought of making a mistake on a stage as grand as that, in front of not just the 60,000 fans in the stadium but the millions watching from home, is enough to make anyone’s stomach turn.
But the confident Williams isn’t afraid of pressure — he thrives on it. It comes with the territory when you’re the number one pick.
“Whatever role they put me in, whether it be a big block or tackle on special teams or something big on defence — I’m going to go out there and try to make a big play,” Williams said. “I’m going to try to put my name on something as a person who contributed well to our Grey Cup win.”
