Riders ecstatic to return to field in pre-season contest

While it might not mean anything in the standings, Tuesday’s pre-season game will mean a lot to a couple of Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“I’m really appreciative that I get to be here in Saskatchewan because last year around this time, I was washing cars and doing personal training and stuff like that,” wide receiver Dieuly Aristilde Jr. said Monday at Mosaic Stadium, site of Tuesday’s exhibition contest against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Aristilde Jr. had declared for the 2020 NFL draft but went undrafted.

He went back to school for the 2021 season, playing in 11 games for the Bethel University Wildcats of Tennessee. He recorded 768 yards and six touchdowns that season.

“It means the world to me,” he said. “I had to find out a lot about myself away from football, not by choice. I’m more than thankful and more than grateful just to be back out here and on the field playing.”

While Aristilde Jr. got to play football last season, Vincent Dethier was rehabbing a knee injury.

During Riders training camp last season, the Montreal product suffered a torn ACL during a drill. Dethier, who was taken by the Riders in the fifth round of the 2020 CFL draft, hasn’t played football since 2019. The CFL cancelled the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

“It’s been a rough past two years because I got drafted in 2020 and then no season because of COVID, then in 2021 I tore my ACL. It’s been the past year of doing rehab and taking care of my knee every single day and it just feels good to be on the field and playing football again,” Dethier said.

“I’ve been playing football all my life and playing pro football is what I want to do with my life so I’m just really happy and grateful to be back on the field and be able to play.”

The two find themselves on the depth chart for the pre-season showdown with the Bombers. Dethier will slot in as the starting safety while Aristilde Jr. is pencilled in behind Tevin Jones at wide receiver.

As with any pre-season game, playing time will vary with coaches trying to get a look at as many players as possible.

Dethier said he knows how important it is to go out and perform in the game.

“Coaches always say it’s the evaluation day. You need to put your best football out there and make sure you make yourself seen by coaches,” Dethier said.

And it’s an opportunity Aristilde Jr. won’t soon forget.

“It means the world to me. From the time I was five years old, I always told myself I wanted to be a professional football player. Of course, at the time, the only thing I was seeing on TV was the NFL but the CFL is just as competitive. The guys out here in the league are just as good,” Aristilde Jr. said.

Kickoff for the game is set for 6:30 p.m. The Green Zone pregame show is to begin at 4:30 p.m.