Britton Gray: Dreams still come true at CFL draft

Opinion

Jaxon Ford personified what the CFL draft is all about on Tuesday night.

While the Canadian version doesn’t have the same glitz and glamour that the NFL draft showcases for three days, at the heart of both is the same concept: Young athletes achieving their dreams of going to the professional ranks.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders selected Ford, a defensive back from the University of Regina, with their second-round pick.

It’s a perfect match between a franchise and a player. Ford not only has called Regina home his entire life and played every level of football in the Queen City, but his grandfather Al also is a Riders legend.

Al helped the Riders on the field from 1965 to ’76, winning the Grey Cup with them as a player. He won another Grey Cup with them in 1989, that time as the team’s general manager.

When Jaxon met the media on Tuesday — not even an hour after he received the phone call that he was one of the team’s newest members — he was shaking with excitement. It became apparent that the moment meant more than just where he would start his pro career.

While he didn’t have the words to describe the moment at the time, just saying it was “crazy,” he could describe what the team has meant to him.

He recalled going to a Riders game when he was nine years old with his grandfather, seeing the players take to Taylor Field. He also said his dream started when he was at Al’s house and saw a photo of him catching a touchdown for the Riders.

The way Jaxon described those moments is exactly why the CFL draft is special, even if it doesn’t lead to multi-million-dollar deals.

It’s hard not to root for a guy who already appears ready to run through the wall for the team he grew up watching. Jaxon is excited to get to Riders rookie camp and battle for playing time (and the currently vacant safety position in the Riders’ defence).

The Riders’ first-round pick — UBC defensive end Lake Korte-Moore — also exuded excitement as he proudly wore a Roughriders hat during his video-conference meeting with the media.

Korte-Moore said it has been a dream of his to play in the CFL and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to help Saskatchewan turn things around and get back to the playoffs.

For many Canadian football players, the CFL is still the league many of them grew up watching, idolizing the players who came before them.

So while the CFL draft might be one that gets overlooked by many people, for the athletes, it’s still a day filled with triumph and joy as they get that all-important phone call from their new team.