After practicing this week at Griffiths Stadium on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will hold their Green and White Game today at SMF Field in Gordie Howe Sports Complex.
The fans will get a chance to see the players compete in a live scrimmage. For the players, Saturday is a golden opportunity to show the coaches what they’re capable of and gives the fans a little preview of what they can expect this season.
Receivers Juwan Brescacin and Kendall Watson are a pair of players that will be suiting in green and white for the first time in a game-like situation.
Juwan Brescacin
A former second-pick of the Calgary Stampeders back in 2016, Brescacin signed with Saskatchewan in February following a pair of seasons with the Toronto Argonauts.
Brescacin says the Roughriders offered him the best chance to get on the field.
“Throughout my career in this league you want to go where you are wanted and I felt like Sask. gave me the best opportunity to be myself, best opportunity to play, which is what I want at the end of the day. ”
Off the field, being in a place where football is the number one priority was also very appealing to the receiver.
“They live and breathe football, you feel the support from the fans.”
Last season, the former Northern Illinois Huskie only played six games with the Argonauts. Brescacin said he discovered how to help a team off the field last season.
“If I can’t be a presence on the field, I try to coach the young guys, making sure everybody’s mind is good going into the game and making sure they knew what their assignments were going into the game. ”
He added that when he went up against the Argos first-team defence, he would try and give them the best opposition in practice.
The Roughriders are looking to end their drought of a Grey Cup title in 2023. Brescacin is a two-time Grey Cup champion and has been a part of two other teams who have competed in the big game. He wants to help bring the trophy back to the prairies this November.
“I know the Roughriders haven’t had that for awhile and I think their fans deserve to see their team in the Grey Cup and ultimately a Grey Cup, so I would like to be apart of that.”
Kendall Watson
Saturday will mark the first chance most Roughriders fans will get to see wide receiver Kendall Watson in action. The 5’10 speedster from Chattanooga, Tennessee, signed with Saskatchewan in December.
In his final season at Samford, Watson posted career highs in receiving yards (1,034) and touchdowns (10).
Most players in Watson’s situation usually exhaust their National Football League options before heading north of the border, but the receiver’s main priority was to keep his career going.
“Sometimes with the NFL, sometimes you don’t get that opportunity if you get overlooked or no one decides to sign you and I wanted to give myself that opportunity when I had that chance in front of me.”
If Watson gets a chance, he thinks he can create some big plays on offence.
“I’m an explosive player, I’ll go make tough catches, when I get the ball in space, I can make a lot of things happen.”
Since entering camp in Saskatoon, the newcomer to the Roughriders has been impressed with the other receivers.
“It’s been really fun learning from these guys and learning with them. I think this is an elite group honestly, there’s a lot of guys who can play ball and play multiple positions.”
Despite only being in Saskatchewan for a few days, Watson has been impressed with the Roughriders fanbase.
“I can tell Rider Nation has deep passion for this organization. They show up everyday, every time we have practice they are here. Like when we move to the indoor facility, they’re still there, supporting. You can tell the organization means a lot them here in this province and I’m appreciative of that cause it’s nice to have people who you know care about you and what you do.”
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Today’s activities at SMF Field begin at noon. The team’s state of the franchise follows at 1:00 with President & CEO Craig Reynolds, General Manager & Vice-President of Football Operations Jeremy O’Day and Head Coach Craig Dickenson.
The scrimmage will follow at 3:00. Following the game, fans can line up around the fence to receive autographs from the players.
