Just when Johnathon Stevens thought his time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders couldn\u2019t be more exciting or rewarding, Corey Mace had a surprise in store.<\/p>\n
The Roughriders\u2019 Head Coach asked the Saskatoon Hilltops defensive lineman to break down the team \u2014\u00a0lead a post-game huddle in the locker room \u2014\u00a0following a 21-18 CFL victory over the Edmonton Elks on July 25 at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy drive to Saskatoon was a lot shorter that night,\u201d he says in his always-pleasant manner.<\/p>\n
Stevens was invited to the Roughriders\u2019 Coors Light Training Camp as a territorial junior, as was Hilltops teammate Dalton Urban.<\/p>\n
Urban, a defensive back, registered an interception on Day 1 of rookie camp before suffering a knee injury.<\/p>\n
Stevens was with the Roughriders throughout rookie and main camp before spending nearly two months on the practice roster.<\/p>\n
After the Edmonton game, Stevens rejoined the Hilltops in time for the beginning of their training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat kid embodied everything that we want to ID as a Rider,\u201d Mace says. \u201cIt meant so much to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever was asked, whether it was D-line or O-line, he did. If we had him play kick returner, he would do it with a smile on his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was always looking to get better. He was showing up early, doing extra lifts. It meant a lot for him to be here and he meant a lot to the guys, honestly. We found that out very quickly in training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an outstanding kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-2, 285-pounder will begin his fourth PFC season on Sunday when the Hilltops oppose the host Winnipeg Rifles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the amount of knowledge and experience that I\u2019ve tried to take in while I was there, I try to apply it now to practising with the Hilltops,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cIt seems like it\u2019s showing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to believe that this is an intermission (in his time with the Roughriders) and I will keep training as if it was. Whatever happens, happens, but I\u2019m grateful for the time I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens also appreciates the opportunities he received to play six-a-side football in Eatonia. He grew up on a farm near the small western Saskatchewan town.<\/p>\n
He became a Hilltop after playing high school football with the Eatonia Spartans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve watched the Riders ever since I was little,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cTo be able to be around that was a dream come true.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to cherish every second of it and I learned so much when I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens received the invitation to training camp about a month before workouts began at Griffiths Stadium, on the University of Saskatchewan campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying not to scream,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt was very, very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The excitement, as it turned out, was just beginning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou listen to the media and you wonder who these guys are outside of the lights and the camera,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cEvery single guy on the Riders treated me amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were all very supportive. They were very willing to give me wisdom. I can\u2019t say enough about how amazing everyone\u2019s character was.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey treated me as one of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was especially evident after the home-field victory over Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the game, they\u2019d given out the game balls \u2014 offence, defence and special teams,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cCorey Mace was so generous, so kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe basically said, \u2018Just before everyone goes, we want to say a farewell to John and we want to thank him for coming.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I got to break down the team. I got a handshake and a hug from most everyone on the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea it was coming. Before I left, I thought I would say good-bye to everyone individually. They made it so hard to say good-bye because I\u2019ve had good experiences with every single one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just when Johnathon Stevens thought his time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders couldn\u2019t be more exciting or rewarding, Corey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-54869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54869","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=54869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}