Riders’ Damon Webb used to spotlight of big games

Damon Webb isn’t a stranger to big games.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back is a product of the Ohio State Buckeyes, one of college football’s biggest programs.

“I had a great time at Ohio State. (Then-head coach) Urban Meyer taught me a lot and gave me a lot of things to put in my toolbox as far as football and life as well,” Webb said. “He definitely made me a better player and taught me how to play the game.”

Webb appeared in 35 games for the Buckeyes, recording 131 tackles, four tackles for loss, six interceptions and two touchdowns. His senior season with Ohio State was one of his most productive, with five of his interceptions coming in that one season.

“My senior year was a great year. I was in a system and I was comfortable and I was a leader in the group,” Webb said. “My coach put a lot on my plate because I was calling the whole defence my senior year and I think that’s what made me excel. I had to take my game to another level because my coaches depended on it.”

And when the lights were the brightest in 2017 – at the Cotton Bowl in AT&T Stadium in Dallas – Webb shined brightly with five tackles and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.

“It was fun playing in Jerry’s World,” said Webb, referring to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. “It was a great experience. We played USC and there were a lot of big-time names on the other side of the field and it was a great experience.”

It was a bit of an oddity that Webb ended up at Ohio State.

Being from Detroit, and with an offer from the Michigan Wolverines on his table, he went with the more unique option.

“I had a lot of schools offering me scholarships and I had built a great relationship with the cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs and he recruited me real hard,” Webb said. “It just felt like family and at the end of the day I feel like I made the right decision.

“Michigan was one of my biggest offers early and I know my dad was a real big Michigan fan growing up and when I first got offered by Michigan, that was one of the schools I wanted to go to. But at the end of the day I ended up picking Ohio State. But when it came to the decision, I was probably one of the first dudes in recent years who was a big recruit from Michigan and went to Ohio State.”

That decision did draw some ire from people in his city.

“That made a lot of headlines and a lot of people were mad at the decision but at the end of the day my family wasn’t mad and my coaches weren’t mad so I made the right decision,” Webb said.

After Webb enjoyed a successful career at Ohio State, he wasn’t picked in the 2018 NFL draft.

“The whole draft process was stressful. Leading up to it, I ended up getting hurt at the combine which made my stock real low. I feel like I should have been drafted,” Webb said. “I felt like I was the best safety in that draft. Going undrafted mentally strained me and some days I took the wrong approach and had the wrong mindset.”

Webb signed with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent and spent training camp and the preseason with them. He spent all of 2019 on their practice roster.

“It was great. I looked at it as an opportunity,” Webb said. “That whole preseason I was playing some great football.”

But he was eventually released and didn’t get another opportunity.

“It was stressful, just being young at the time and trying to see what’s next and no teams were really calling. My agent wasn’t really putting in work for me and it was really stressful,” Webb said. “I didn’t know what my next move was going to be.”

Webb signed with a CFL team in 2019 – it just turned out to be one he wasn’t eligible to sign with.

“Ottawa tried to sign me and I had signed a contract with (the Redblacks) but I found out Saskatchewan had me on their negotiation list,” Webb said. “I didn’t even know what (the negotiation list) was and I wasn’t familiar with the CFL, so whatever team I was going to was the team I was going to play for.”

So a few days later, Webb signed a contract with the Roughriders and was set to join the team in 2020.

But the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to his first CFL season before it started, with the season getting cancelled.

With no football in 2020, Webb got a job in an Amazon warehouse and at a Hilton Hotel working night shifts.

“The 2020 year was a stressful year overall with COVID. I was at home and I wasn’t playing football so I had to get jobs at other places and pay bills and stuff like that,” said Webb, 26. “It was stressful watching dudes in the NFL and college playing and I was at home.”

Webb came to Saskatchewan in 2021, earning a spot on the practice roster after a strong camp.

But as injuries started to pile up in the secondary, Webb saw his role increase throughout the year, leading to him starting his first game against the Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 23.

“I was just waiting for my opportunity. I wasn’t waiting for guys to get injured, I just knew my time would come if I kept working because I have the ability to play out here,” Webb said.

And in that first start, Webb got his first career CFL interception at the expense of Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.

“That was a great feeling. That made me realize I was back out playing football and a wakeup call that I was doing what I love,” Webb said.

Webb also recently got his first blast of Saskatchewan winter, with a blizzard affecting practice ahead of Saturday’s game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“Those practices were rough. I’ve never played in a blizzard like that so that’s something that’s new to me. I’ve got to figure out some tricks to stay warm out there,” Webb said. “Overall I feel like if we were to ever play in a situation like that, I feel like it would be fun to go out there and run in the snow.”

Webb might call on his big-game experience when the Riders host the Stampeders in the CFL West Division semifinal on Nov. 28.

“You can’t teach (about being in big games),” he said. “The only thing you can teach is preparation and that’s what I’ve been telling my teammates. Just keep getting prepared and the most prepared team is going to win.”