From playing high school football in the Battlefords to the big stage of the National Football League, Rueben Mayes made it a long way, but this week he returned to the practice field where it all began.

Thursday the town took time to honour him for making it to the NFL, a feat not too many Canadians have managed. The practice field at the North Battleford Comprehensive High School has been officially renamed Reuben Mayes field.

Mayes and his family where there for the dedication ceremony.

"I have a sense of pride and I want them to have a sense of pride when they play on that field," he said.

Mayes says it's emotional for him to come back.

"To reflect on all the people that had got me to where I am today and to have a field named after you is quite a legacy," Mayes commented. "I'm just very honoured and have a lot of gratitude for that, I really do."

The two-time Pro Bowl running back spent five seasons with the New Orleans Saints, who drafted him in 1986. He also spent two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

Mayes says being from a place like North Battleford instills certain values.

"Honesty, integrity, hard work, vision, all those things that make people who they really are and I learned all those things from coaches or people I worked for," he explained.

The journey to success in the NFL was a path Mayes says did not follow a straight line. He credited his former coaches for helping him along the way.

"You go left and right and you eventually get there but you've got to be persistent and that's what it's all about," Mayes said.

Edited by News Talk Radio staff