‘I have a lot of respect for him:’ Godber to fill big shoes as Riders’ new centre

Peter Godber knew he’d have big shoes to fill when he signed with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders on the first day of free agency.

General manager Jeremy O’Day said Wednesday that the 28-year-old Godber was signed to be the team’s starting centre and that it was “highly unlikely” veteran centre Dan Clark would be signed for training camp.

“I’ve watched Dan Clark ever since I’ve been in the CFL,” Godber said Thursday. “He’s a great centre and I’ve heard great things about him being a leader as well.

“He’s a strong, physical offensive lineman … He was a great player for a long time.”

Clark, 34, has been with the Riders since 2009 and has been a starter for the team since 2012. Clark, who rarely missed a game over his career, suffered a broken leg in 2022 that forced him to miss 15 weeks.

“There is a lot I could learn from Dan Clark,” Godber said. “It’s just part of the business. Dan Clark can still play at a very high level as we’ve seen over the last few years. It’s more of a club decision, but as a player who has watched him for a long time, I have a lot of respect for him and a lot of guys from around the league have a lot of respect for him.”

Godber said he knows there will be high expectations set for him.

“I’ve approached this the same way since I’ve been in high school: Just worry about what I do, work hard every day, drown out the outside noise and focus on myself,” Godber said.

Godber had been the starting centre for the B.C. Lions the past two seasons, appearing in 32 games for the club.

He said he had interest from other teams in free agency, but Saskatchewan was where he wanted to take his next steps as a pro.

“Growing up in Toronto, I grew up a fan of the CFL and it was critical to come here when you have the best fans in the league,” Godber said.

Godber’s first taste of what Rider Nation can bring was during the 2007 Grey Cup at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Saskatchewan defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 in the game.

“I sat on the upper level of the Rogers Centre and I remember it being sold out. It was the biggest game I’ve ever been to and it was a crazy atmosphere,” Godber said. “At the time, I knew the Argos and I knew other CFL teams, but I didn’t really know how much everyone loved the Roughriders until I went to that game and I thought, ‘Wow, this is a whole other level.’

“As a kid, you dream of it: ‘What if one day I put on the green and have all these people cheering for me?’ ”

The Canadian centre is also looking forward to being the home team at Mosaic Stadium rather than a visitor trying to call out audibles and protections while dealing with the crowd noise.

“Every week we practised for Saskatchewan, we brought out two or three loudspeakers to try and amplify the crowd noise and it never did it justice,” Godber said. “It’s going to be a real treat to have that crowd noise working with us.

“It’s going to be amazing with that crowd noise. There’s nothing like it in Canada.”

Along with fellow free-agent signing Philip Blake, Godber will be a part of what might be the most-watched group in the league in 2023. The Riders gave up 77 sacks in 2022, the most in the CFL and a single-season team record.

“Every year is a new year and what happened last year was last year,” Godber said. “I’m just looking forward to taking it day by day and taking it one play at a time and one game at a time.”

Godber knows what it takes as an offensive line to bounce back after a down year.

In 2019, the Lions gave up a league-high 58 sacks. In 2021, they cut that down to 35 in a shortened season. In 18 games last season, B.C. surrendered 39 sacks.

“We just put our head down and worked and drowned out the outside noise,” Godber said.

Riders bring back Justin Herdman-Reed

The Riders added to their Canadian depth on defence Thursday, re-signing linebacker Justin Herdman-Reed.

Herdman-Reed will enter his third season with the Green and White. He dressed for 14 games in 2022 and was mostly used on special teams.

The Winnipeg product was taken by Toronto in the seventh round of the 2017 CFL draft.

Herdman-Reed became a free agent Tuesday. His twin brother, Jordan Herdman-Reed, signed with B.C. on Wednesday.