Regina– The BC Lions have landed in Saskatchewan for tonight’s pre-season opener. After two weeks of going up against each other in training camp practices, the mood is energetic as they look to accomplish the goal of getting back to the CFL penthouse in 2016. Excitement is even more high for the handful of rookies who will strap on the pads for the first time. BCLions.com caught up with four first-year Lions to get their thoughts on fulfilling their life long football dreams.
“It’s really exciting. I can think about it more now after having a good night’s sleep. Practice is very important, but a big aspect of this is to see how you react in a game. I am going to try and show them what I can do in a football game which is different than practice. It’s always fun to play football with your teammates, but it’s different to play an actual opponent. I am very excited for that.”
“I would say I am more nervous than excited. I’ve never played in front of this many people before, maybe 10,000 is the largest crowd. It’s going to be different to see the amount of people in Saskatchewan. I always get the pregame jitters and they usually don’t stop until the first hit. It’s going to be fun because we’ve had two weeks of built up energy. It’s a full on game to me and probably one of the most important games because if I don’t perform well, I might not be here.”
“I’ve been waiting for this for about 500 days. I’m ready to touch the field and ready to touch the quarterbacks. All camp we’ve been running to the quarterback but not being able to touch the quarterback. I want to show my whole entire arsenal and what I can bring to the game. I know they want to see a lot and it’s a big evaluation period for a lot of the guys.”
“I’m really excited. As far as goals, it’s always to get an interception as a DB, but also show that I can contribute to the team. It’s been cool to watch Ryan Phillips and how good his technique is, so I hope I can take some of those traits and add them to my game. I am treating this like a real game. Every game is a real game.”
You can listen to tonight’s contest on TSN 1040 with Scott Rintoul and Giulio Caravatta. Kickoff is at 6:00 Pacific time. You can also watch on TSN and American viewers can tune in on ESPN 3.
Download tonight’s Lions depth chart here.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com