Arden Zwelling
CFL.ca
It’s been a year of firsts for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Shomari Williams.
First overall pick in the CFL Canadian Draft. His first CFL tackle in Week 1 against Montreal. His first CFL start in week 13 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
And now, with the Roughriders clinching a post-season appearance and the right to host a home game, Williams is poised for his next first — a CFL playoff game.
“I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like with these Roughrider fans in a playoff game,” Williams said after practice earlier this week. “It’s going to be different but it’s going to be really exciting at the same time.”
It’s just the next step in what is the first of surely many CFL seasons for the 25-year-old Williams, who is in the running for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie Award. Williams would be the first Canadian to win the award since Jason Clermont won it in 2002 with the BC Lions.
But for Williams, his rookie campaign has been one of constant scrutiny from fans and media alike. It comes with the territory when you’re a national college champion and the first overall pick in the CFL Entry Draft.
“Being the first pick overall, there’s definitely expectations and pressures put on you,” Williams said. “You can’t really get bogged down in what someone in the media says. I have to focus on what I’m trying to do — get better every week and put this team in a position to win.”
The Toronto native has racked up nine defensive tackles and five special teams tackles over his first 14 games as a professional which involved mostly spot time as a backup before he earned starting nods in weeks 13 and 14 after Brent Hawkins went down with a dislocated right shoulder.
Williams picked up two tackles and a fumble recovery in those two games, both winning efforts from the Roughriders.
“Being a starter for two weeks ¬— it taught me that there are definitely things I have to work on,” the humble Williams said. “Whenever your number is called you have to make sure you can do your best.”
It was important for the Roughriders to give Williams those starts and see what the six-foot-one, 232-pounder could do with more regular snaps. Hawkins has said that his shoulder isn’t 100 per cent and the Riders could take some pressure off of him by splitting time between him and Williams down the stretch and into the playoffs.
“It’s going to help when the playoffs come around,” Williams said of gaining experience as a starter. “Playing in high pressure games, you have to stay calm and know how to weather the storm.”
Of course, Williams won’t have to wait until November to get his first taste of a high stakes CFL game. This weekend’s matchup with the West Division leading Calgary Stampeders will do just fine.
The Roughriders trail the Stampeders by two points in the West Division standings and the season series between the two teams currently stands at 1-1. With a win, the Roughriders can move into first place, earn a tie breaker over Calgary and take a step towards securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“They’re a good team. They deserve the spot that they’re in. But we feel that we can come and take it from them,” Williams said of the Stampeders. “It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere out there just like the last time we played them.”
If the first two games between these teams are any indication — a 40-20 Calgary win in week four and a 43-37 Saskatchewan victory in week twelve’s slugfest — there will be plenty of excitement to go around come Sunday.
“At the end of the day we’re just trying to win,” Williams said. “We might be a bit more amped for [the game against Calgary] but we’re going to try to prepare the same way we do for every opponent.”
For Williams, big games and high pressure situations are second nature after his time in the CIS with the Queen’s Gaels.
Williams only played for the Gaels for one year. Of course, that just so happened to be the year the team won the Vanier Cup.
Williams led the Gaels in tackles with 32, despite playing just six of the team’s regular season games. He was also fourth in the nation in tackles for a loss with 10, resulting in 56 negative yards.
But it was in the CIS playoffs where Williams really took over and showed he could rise to the occasion in big games.
In the Yates Cup against Western he led the Gaels with 8.5 tackles, including three for a loss. In the dying moments of the first half, he sacked Mustangs quarterback Michael Faulds in the end zone for a safety to extend the Gaels’ lead going into halftime.
Those extra two points meant the Mustangs were down by four instead of two when they were driving into Queen’s territory late in the game. Instead of kicking a field goal for the win, the Mustangs were forced to try for a touchdown. They came up short, giving Queen’s the victory.
Next, in the CIS semi-final against the number one ranked Laval Rouge-et-Or, Williams led the team again in tackles with seven and got to Laval quarterback Benoit Groulx for 3.5 sacks, including one late in the game that halted a 49 yard Laval drive. The Rouge-et-Or turned the ball over on downs and lost the game.
Finally, in the Vanier Cup, Williams picked up five tackles and helped hold the Calgary Dinos dynamic run game to just 163 yards on the day — which isn’t half bad against a run-dominant team like Calgary.
Consider that in their CIS semi-final against Saint Mary’s the Dinos piled up an astronomical 429 yards on the ground. Not to mention the 207 yards they picked up against Saskatchewan in the Canada West championship game.
“I was only there for a year but I learned so much in the one year. It helped me out tremendously to get to the point where I’m at today,” Williams said. “Going to Queen’s and getting coached by those guys was one of the best things that ever happened to me in football.”
Of course, a deep playoff run with the Roughriders and a Grey Cup ring might change that. It’s been a long year since the Roughriders monumental loss to Montreal in last year’s Grey Cup. Winning it all this year would go a long way to healing some of those wounds in Rider nation.
“Right now, I’m just trying to go 100 miles an hour out there,” Williams said. “I play in one of the best cities with the best fans in Canada. Everything so far this season has been a blessing.”
