{"id":265937,"date":"2025-11-06T16:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T16:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265937\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T16:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T16:57:07","slug":"roughriders-resilient-reavis-repeats-as-all-cfl-cover-linebacker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265937\/","title":{"rendered":"Roughriders\u2019 resilient Reavis repeats as All-CFL cover linebacker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barely three years ago, C.J. Reavis wondered whether his professional football career was over.<\/p>\n

It was a painful moment the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 cover linebacker can now recall with a smile, considering how everything has evolved since Oct. 29, 2022 at McMahon Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, after my second Achilles tear, I sat there on the ground in Calgary and said, \u2018God, if this is it for me, let me not come back from it. Let me just move on,\u2019 \u201d Reavis said after Wednesday\u2019s practice at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are now, so I think He had different plans for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is evidenced by the fact that Reavis was recognized on Wednesday as the All-CFL cover linebacker<\/a> for the second season in succession.<\/p>\n

His comeback is even more extraordinary when you consider that his first Achilles tear was suffered only six months before bad luck struck again in the Roughriders\u2019 2022 season finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat whole off-season, I just trained hard and got back to my full form,\u201d he said. \u201cEver since then, it has been up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reavis rebounded with a flourish in 2023, registering 59 defensive tackles (including a team-high five tackles for a loss), three sacks, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception.<\/p>\n

For a considerable portion of the 2023 season, Reavis shared the cover linebacker position with Derrick Moncrief \u2014 an All-CFL choice in 2019 and a divisional selection in 2022.<\/p>\n

In 2023, they were both listed at that position on the depth chart 11 times, with one of them starting and the other classified as the Designated American.<\/p>\n

Now with the Stampeders, Moncrief provided strong competition for Reavis as voters determined the top performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cShout-out to \u2019Crief,\u201d Reavis said. \u201cHe could have won it, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he talked to me, he told me, \u2018Not many guys know your story.\u2019 He was just telling me that he\u2019s proud of me. I appreciate him, honestly, showing me how to be a pro, showing me how to be a vet. He made me feel great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reavis extended his gratitude to Jeremy O\u2019Day (Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager) and Kyle Carson (Assistant GM) \u201cfor bringing me back after those two Achilles injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reavis continued: \u201cI know how it goes. In pro sports, that opportunity isn\u2019t always granted so I\u2019m grateful for that, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gratitude extends to back-to-back All-CFL laurels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like God is amazing,\u201d Reavis said. \u201cWhen I first got this job and got my chance to start, I wanted to be an all-star every time, so I feel like I\u2019m on a good roll right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

So is the team, which is poised to oppose the B.C. Lions in Saturday\u2019s Western Final (5:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).<\/a><\/p>\n

Saskatchewan earned a first-round playoff bye after posting a league-best 12-6 record.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-0, 198-pound Reavis continued to contribute whenever and wherever he could. Although he earned All-CFL accolades as a cover linebacker, he made three starts at safety.<\/p>\n

In the second of those three games, he helped the Roughriders defeat the visiting Toronto Argonauts 27-19 on Oct. 10 to clinch first place in the West Division.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was honestly nervous about not getting (all-star recognition) because of my switch to safety, but I leave it in God\u2019s hands and just let Him construct my will,\u201d Reavis said. \u201cI\u2019ll just follow His steps, wherever that may take me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reavis kept the faith even when the conventionally simple act of taking a step was excruciating, as was the case barely 10 minutes into that fateful game in Calgary three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t wish that on my worst enemy, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing that I would wish on anybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it makes you a man. It makes you a stronger person. It builds your faith. Like it says in the book of James, you test your faith through endurance, with trial and tribulation. I feel like that trial just tested my endurance and my faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of the injury, however, it was impossible to imagine what the future held as he was tended to on the field by Head Athletic Therapist Greg Mayer.<\/p>\n

What if the outcome had been different? Where would Reavis be, and what would he be doing, today?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the famous Kanye West quote,\u201d he responded cheerfully. \u201cI guess we\u2019ll never know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barely three years ago, C.J. Reavis wondered whether his professional football career was over. It was a painful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-265937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}