Last Saturday, CFL teams made the hard decision to release players to make their final roster for this upcoming season.
On his weekly segment, Double Talk on the All New SportsCage on 620 CKRM, Darian Durant told us a story about a person in the Riders Organization known as Reaper. Basically, Reaper would go around and call players in before they got cut from the team.
"So you know that if the Reaper comes to your room or you hear that knock on your door, it's your time," recalls Durant to Hosts Barney & Maz. "I was fortunate enough to not get that knock."
Some notable players released from the Riders on Saturday were Quarterback Mason Fine and Wide Receiver Brayden Lenius.
The last time we talked with Durant about Mason, he was on the fence about Fine's play but was not surprised by the decision. He still has hopes for him.
"From what I saw, he just wasn't a guy that took advantage of the opportunities," said Durant. "I still think he's a pretty good quarterback that can grow."
When we switched to Brayen Lenius' release from the Riders, Durant provided an analogy he heard from one of his old coaches, Ken Miller.
"Me playing with Coach Miller; he was always a guy who said, ' You can't make the club in the tub,'" explained Durant.
Lenius, last season with the Riders, only played one game for the team because of an injury he sustained in week eight against the Toronto Argonauts.
Durant still has high hopes for Lenius and hopes he gets another opportunity to play for another team in the CFL.
"I think with his size, it's something that the receiver position is kind of missing in Rider Nation," Durant emphasized. "So I wanted to see him get another opportunity."
In Durant's opinion, the Riders did a good job with the players that they released.
A player Durant is excited to see play in the regular season is Trevor Harris, who is returning from an injury from last season.
"I know how it is coming back off an injury," details Durant. "I'm excited to see him get out there and do what he does best."
The Roughriders' regular season starts on Saturday when they travel to Edmonton to take on the Elks. Catch Countdown to Kick Off with Justin Dunk starting at 11 a.m. Because of the Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers game one of the Stanley Cup Final, the kickoff has been moved up to 2 p.m.
