Using a Gatorade bottle for a microphone, Bakari Grant invaded a media scrum to ask Antwane Grant a question Wednesday.
“So how does it feel to be a Junior?” Bakari asked his fellow Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver, referring to the six-year age difference between the men.
Antwane laughed off the question but later admitted he can learn a lot from the 30-year-old Bakari. In reality, though, Antwane is motivated by his own youngster.
Treyce Grant, who just turned three, lives in Memphis with his mother.
“I talk to him every day on FaceTime, so whenever I see him, it makes my heart warm,” Antwane said following practice at Mosaic Stadium. “I look forward to going out there and leaving it on the field for him.”
Antwane (“You pronounce it like Mark Twain,” he explained) is to get his first opportunity to honour his son in a CFL regular-season game Saturday, when the Roughriders play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The 24-year-old product of Wilmington, Del., is to be activated off Saskatchewan’s practice roster to replace Caleb Holley, who’s out with a shoulder injury.
“It means everything,” Grant said of the opportunity. “I’m looking forward to it. (I want to) make sure that the offence doesn’t miss a beat. I’m looking to step in and do my job.”
Grant spent two seasons at Nassau Community College in East Garden City, N.Y., before moving to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky.
After making 96 catches for 1,210 yards and 13 touchdowns over two seasons with the Hilltoppers, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound receiver hoped he would be selected in the 2016 NFL draft. He wasn’t picked, but signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals shortly after the draft ended.
Grant went to camp with the Bengals, but was released before the regular season. His agent eventually called a friend — Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones — and arranged a workout for Grant.
Jones put Grant through his paces at an individual workout and then invited him to Saskatchewan’s mini-camp in Florida in April. Grant was on a mission when he went to Vero Beach.
“I came with a chip on my shoulder,” he recalled. “I didn’t stick around the NFL, so I knew when I came here, I wanted to stick around. I wanted to be here for sure.”
On Wednesday, he called the mini-camp “helpful” and “insightful” because he learned the rules of the CFL game there. He also made an impression on others who were at the camp, including quarterback Kevin Glenn.
The veteran pivot said Grant impressed with the smooth way he ran routes — and with the confidence he showed while learning the pre-snap movement CFL receivers are allowed to use.
“He did a great job of really honing in on timing up the waggle when we were down in Florida,” Glenn said. “Once a guy starts to get that waggle, you can see he’s a lot more comfortable running routes and understanding what’s going on on the field.”
Grant’s showing at the mini-camp earned him a spot at Saskatchewan’s training camp in Saskatoon, where he again impressed. He was released at the CFL’s roster deadline but was immediately put on the practice roster.
Then the waiting began.
“It’s pretty hard (to be patient), but I kept the faith …,” said Grant, whom Jones likened to “a young Nik Lewis” because of his strong hands and his physicality.
“(The coaches) always told me that I was the next receiver up. They always knew I was ready. It was just a matter of, when my number was called, being able to make a play.”
Holley was off to a solid start in Saskatchewan’s first two games, snagging 10 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. But a shoulder injury suffered in training camp flared up in Saturday’s 43-40, double-overtime loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and he was dispatched to the six-game injured list.
Enter Grant, whom Glenn called “a talent.”
“I expect him to do well,” the QB said. “He has been out here practising with us during training camp and the start of the season, getting work after practice. That’s the pro thing to do.
“If you’re not on the roster in Week 1 or Week 2, you still get reps after practice with the quarterbacks. We’ve all been throwing to him, so when he gets that opportunity to go in and play, it’s not like it’s a new guy out there who we’re throwing the ball to.”
Grant noted that the extra work he did — practising with the quarterbacks or going to the coaches to get questions answered — has him prepared for his regular-season debut.
“(The key is) just making sure I know what I’m doing mentally,” he said, “so I’ll be able to just step in and do my job.”
