October 28, 2017

Trent Richardson makes his mark with the Roughriders

in Regina,Friday,October 27,2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

One handoff meant more to Trent Richardson than any other Friday.

Richardson and slotback Chad Owens were presented with game balls by head coach-GM Chris Jones after their performances in a 37-12 CFL victory over the Montreal Alouettes at Mosaic Stadium.

The gesture meant a great deal to Richardson, a former NFLer who played in just the fourth game of his CFL career.

“Coach Jones said some thoughtful words,” Richardson said after rushing 20 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. “He said, ‘He has been through a lot. People didn’t believe in him. There was a lot of naysayers.’ … To get that honour from the team, from Coach, it means a lot to me.”

Richardson was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round (third overall) of the 2012 NFL draft, but the 5-foot-9, 225-pound tailback lasted just 46 games in that league.

Unable to find steady employment south of the border since 2014, the former University of Alabama Crimson Tide star signed with the Roughriders on Sept. 26.

Playing in a different country in a different league with different rules, Richardson needed time to adjust. But the 27-year-old product of Pensacola, Fla., didn’t feel like he had been thrown into the deep end.

“I’ve been in that situation before,” he said. “(In the NFL) I got traded Thursday and played on Sunday, so (getting accustomed to new surroundings here) wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to.

“I actually thought I was going to play the first week, but I had something with my uncle back home. That next week when I was here, (Jones) played me. It was about getting used to the game and getting my sea legs underneath me.”

The Roughriders were patient with Richardson, even though starting tailback Cameron Marshall was on the injured list at the time of Richardson’s arrival.

Saskatchewan paired Richardson with Kienan LaFrance for two games, giving the newcomer five carries (for 20 yards) and 14 carries (for 60 yards) in games against the Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa Redblacks, respectively. LaFrance, meanwhile, rushed six times for 38 yards and seven times for 12 yards in those respective contests.

Marshall returned for the Roughriders’ game against the Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 20 and rushed 14 times for 53 yards. Richardson had nine carries for 52 yards in that contest.

On Friday, with both LaFrance and Marshall out of the lineup, Richardson was the featured back — and he made the most of it.

He showed patience, power and some elusiveness while recording the most carries and the most yards by a Roughriders rusher in a game this season. Marshall had the previous season highs with 18 carries and 110 yards against Toronto on July 29.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn said that Richardson is still learning the CFL game and the Roughriders’ offence, but the help he has received from his coaches and teammates has helped.

“His progress has been awesome,” Glenn said. “You can see that, every week, he’s getting better and better and better.

“A lot of times when you haven’t been in football and then you come back into football, everybody talks about the basketball shape. But when you’re getting hit like that as a running back, there is some kind of physical shape that you’ve got to get back into and get used to. I think you could see it (Friday) where he took on a couple of hits and was still moving.”

Jones also has been impressed with the tailback’s progress, especially when it comes to understanding how quick the CFL game is. Now the head coach wants to see Richardson consistently run hard.

“Once he gets his shoulder pads turned north and south and doesn’t dance in the hole, he’s tough to do business with,” Jones said. “He’s a great big, strong guy. (Opposing defenders) don’t really look forward to getting up in the morning and tackling somebody that big.”

Richardson got off to a slow start in the first half Friday, rushing nine times for 38 yards. But one of those attempts resulted in a one-yard touchdown run — Richardson’s first rushing TD since a one-yarder in the Indianapolis Colts’ 23-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 23, 2014.

Asked Friday what his first thought was when he crossed the goal line, Richardson replied: “We did it — as in me, my kids, people who believed in me, God, Christion Jones, Duron Carter.”

“(Carter and Jones) believed in me before I got here,” said Richardson, who knows those two Roughriders from Alabama. “There has been a lot of doubters, but it’s guys like that, myself, my kids and my family who really pushed me and really made sure that I got out of that shell and came back to do what I do and (what) I love.”

Richardson added 11 carries for 89 yards in the second half, including a stretch of five straight plays on which he carried the ball for 61 yards on a fourth-quarter drive that ended in his two-yard scoring run.

Richardson plans to send the game ball home to his children, while one of the footballs he carried into the end zone is destined for the family from whom he’s renting his house.

He also is indebted to Chris Jones, who has talked regularly to Richardson since his arrival to make sure he’s OK.

“(The showing Friday) has been a long time coming,” Richardson said. “It feels really good. But I’ve got to give all the thanks to God first and the offensive line and the offensive play-calling. (Offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo) did a great job.

“Chris Jones believed in me and he told me coming into (the game), ‘We’re going to run the ball hard tonight, so you’d better be ready.’ ’’