‘This is big’: Riders’ Roosevelt has sights set on first Grey Cup appearance

Naaman Roosevelt is one win away from playing for the CFL’s top prize for the first time in his career.

“As a child, you dream of getting to a championship game and playing in championship games as a professional, so this is big,” Roosevelt said earlier this week as his Saskatchewan Roughriders prepared to meet the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Sunday’s CFL West Division final. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m., at Mosaic Stadium.

“(Playing in a Grey Cup) is everything. It’s what I came back for, it’s what we fought all year for and now it’s just right there for us to go get so I think everybody’s focused and ready to go.”

The slotback has been with the team since 2015 and is the longest-serving member of the Roughriders’ receiving group.

Roosevelt has dealt with ups and downs with the Roughriders throughout the years, which included a 3-15 record in his first season and the 13-5 record and first-place finish in the West Division in 2019.

“It has been crazy. Coming here and winning a few games and now seeing what it did and being first in the West — it’s something amazing,” Roosevelt said. “It’s just from hard work.

“It’s from this organization putting in the work and the players putting in the work and I feel like it just all came together now. I think this is the greatest time to get it done.”

With the health of quarterback Cody Fajardo a question mark ahead of the West final due to an oblique injury, if things took a turn for the worst for Saskatchewan, Roosevelt could find himself playing the position at which he was recruited to the University at Buffalo — quarterback.

“I’m the fourth-string quarterback right now. If something happened to all three of those guys, I’m next up,” Roosevelt said, referring to Fajardo, Isaac Harker and Bryan Bennett.

“You know, it’s kind of funny. Last week (offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo) said he had a (quarterback) wristband for me just in case. I’m always taking reps here and there so I’m ready to go whenever.”

Growing up in Buffalo, Roosevelt began playing football when he was six years old.

“I loved basketball and my pops was like, ‘Hey, let’s try this football thing,’ and I didn’t want to get hit,” Roosevelt said. “I liked playing (football) on the street and not getting touched but tackle football I didn’t want to play.”

Roosevelt began his career as a tight end because he was bigger than the rest of the kids his age.

He eventually moved into other positions, such as quarterback and wide receiver. But Roosevelt nearly decided to quit playing football after suffering a concussion in high school.

“I thought I was going to be done, I actually didn’t want to play anymore. It was my first time really getting hit. I think I had a concussion but I didn’t know what it was — I just felt funny and felt dizzy,” Roosevelt said. “I really loved basketball growing up so I was just going to stop playing football and just focus on basketball.”

Roosevelt chose to continue his career on the gridiron and eventually went to the University at Buffalo to play quarterback.

It was there that Roosevelt found his first connection to the Roughriders; former Saskatchewan head coach Danny Barrett was his quarterbacks coach.

“He always used to talk about Saskatchewan and how he loved it so much. We didn’t really know what or where it was but he always talked about it and how much he loved it and had a great time in the CFL,” Roosevelt said.

“He always kept it real with me. He’s a stand-up guy and I loved him for that. It’s kind of crazy that now I’m out here in Saskatchewan playing for the team he coached.”

Former Roughriders quarterback Drew Willy also helped Roosevelt get on the path towards coming to the CFL.

“He won a Grey Cup (in Saskatchewan) in 2013 and he always came back to Buffalo and when we were at school and back at home working out, he always talked about how much he loved it,” Roosevelt said. “It’s kind of crazy that the first team that really gave me a chance was Saskatchewan.”

While Roosevelt worked out for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts, he said the Roughriders were the first team to really give him an opportunity.

Through his five seasons with the Green and White, Roosevelt has caught 301 passes for 4,134 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Now in his fifth season, and first under head coach Craig Dickenson, Roosevelt finally has the chance to get to a Grey Cup game.

Roosevelt said the biggest difference he has noticed with Dickenson is how family-oriented the team has become.

“One thing Coach Dickie did was he said, ‘Put a picture of your family in the locker room and when you walk past it, look at it every day and know who you’re playing for,’ ” Roosevelt said. “I think that’s something a lot of coaches don’t do.”

The picture Roosevelt has in the room is from his mom’s birthday. The picture includes many of his extended family as well.

“They support me so much, they watch every game back home,” Roosevelt said. “(It’s) definitely big for me to go out there and do it for my family.”

Roosevelt said it’s tough to know how a season can unfold because of the unpredictability of the game, but he said Saskatchewan has enjoyed a special one so far.

“Coming into the season, it always seems like we’ve got a great team and it could be a good year but you just don’t know. Injuries happen and certain things happen,” Roosevelt said.

“When you have a year like this where for the most part everybody has been healthy and the team has been here for the long haul, it’s big for us and I think everybody’s excited.”

The Green Zone pre-game show gets underway at 1 p.m.