Roughrider hopefuls Corvey Irvin and Caesar Rayford have bounced around North America — for the better part of a decade — all so they can play game they love. This year, the veterans are on a mission to establish a more permanent residence in Saskatchewan.
Rayford, 30, isn’t kidding when he says football has taken him pretty much everywhere. In January, he signed with the Roughriders.
“BC Lions, Spokane Shock, Utah Blaze, Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Saskatchewan Roughriders, I had a little stint with Calgary Stampeders, Montreal Alouettes and there we go, I think that’s it,” Rayford said at training camp on Friday.
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Irvin, 31, is also quite the journeyman. He says he’s been a member of at least eight professional football teams.
“I guess it’s a good thing because I can come in and I can catch on quick, I can use some of my knowledge that I learned back ever since I was a rookie and apply it to what the coaches are teaching now and put it all together … something I got in my toolbox,” Irvin said.
“There’s nothing I haven’t seen, there’s no position I haven’t played and it helps because I have a lot of wisdom and I use all the stuff I’ve learned, put it all together to go out there and make plays,” Rayford said.
But the two vets are sick of moving. They want to make Saskatchewan their home.
“I mean, the fans are awesome. From like day one when I signed, like the fans from Facebook, Twitter, they embraced me. I’m just excited to be able to go out there with the team and just be a part of the community,” Rayford said.
At this point, the future is looking bright for the two world travellers.
They’ve been lining up beside each other on Saskatchewan’s first team defensive line.
But if things don’t work out for Irvin, he’s got a pretty solid backup plan.
“I’m going to write a book called ‘the journeyman’ explaining my whole journey since leaving the University of Georgia, the people I met, the ups the downs, the highs the lows, just how adversity can strike but can you persevere to still carry on and still be motivated to play this game called football.”
The Roughriders kick off the 2016 pre-season on June 11 against the Lions at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium.
Jack Haskins contributed to this story