Q: You played at Grand Valley State. How did playing there help with your development for the Canadian Football game, and was there any particular reason why you chose that University?
A: So right away I knew I wanted to play football in the States, not to knock on Canadian football by any means, but it was just one of those things. I wanted to get away a bit. I knew, with American football, you’re going to learn a lot. And the game-time atmosphere at Grand Valley was incredible. I went to a camp there and Grand Valley – they liked me. I liked them. It was kind of set from there.
Q: You mentioned the crowd was incredible at Grand Valley. Lubber’s stadium has a capacity of around 10,000 seats. Was there a bit of an adjustment moving to Tim Hortons Field which is a little over twice the size?
A: When I was at Grand Valley, they filled the stadium up. There were people standing, and they always plugged it. It was filled up. That atmosphere kind of translated to Hamilton, because there are not many empty seats there. You know Hamilton has an incredible fan base, and it was kind of a similar thing for me at Grand Valley so, like you said, close to double that amount of seating, but for me, I zone that out when I play. I don’t really notice it at all. So it was an easy adjustment.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about your experience in the 2016 draft? How the day happened? What you were feeling, etc?
A: We knew the draft was getting started so me and my family sat down, started watching TV, put the draft on. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It happened around the same time last year – I forget the exact date in May. But you’re hoping you get picked up, you’re not sure when you’re going to get picked up, and then you have no idea where you’re going to end up, right. For us, camp starts May 28th, so within about twenty days I was going to be in a different city, playing ball, you know, starting off my football career there.
We were sitting down, and there’s the first pick, I think it was [Josiah] St. John and then Philippe Gagnon got picked up. Then by the third pick I get a phone call so I get up, walk away, and I take the call. So here everyone is thinking I’m getting picked up by BC, because that’s who had the pick at that time, well it turns out it was Kent Austin, calling me up, letting me know that they traded up to get me. So it was a lot of excitement, and it was a little nerve wracking not knowing what was going to happen, but a lot of excitement.
Q: When you learned that you were going to be a Tiger-Cat, what were your emotions in that moment? You mentioned it wasn’t really the team you were expecting?
A: I knew they had some interest in me. There were a few teams. I just wasn’t sure what was going to happen exactly. Once I found out, especially being close to home… I got engaged about a month before the draft, so my fiancée was really hoping I’d be somewhere close to home, where I wouldn’t be away for 6 months of the year, and she could make it up to a few games. So she was ecstatic about it. And I couldn’t have picked a better team. I love it there [Hamilton]. Like I said, the fan-base is phenomenal. I have great teammates, great coaches. I don’t have a bad thing to say about the program.
Q: You played every game in 2016 and started 6 times, including in the east semi-final. How was it to contribute in the big moment like that, in the playoff environment in your first season on the team?
A: It was great, you know. We made a few playoff runs when I was at Grand Valley. You don’t get moments like that all the time. It’s amazing being a part of that. I love my experience my first year there [Hamilton]. I learned a heck of a lot of stuff over the time I was there. Those big games really helped develop me as a player.
Q: Leading up to your first CFL start, was your preparation different? Did you feel any different emotions than you had felt previously in the season?
A: I was a little more nervous, definitely – knowing that it was coming around, that it was going to happen. There was excitement. My love for the game just kind of overpowered any nervousness I had.