Riders vets make trek across continent to get to training camp

The road to Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp in Saskatoon wasn’t exactly a short one for some of the club’s veterans.

While some opted to fly to Saskatoon and pick up their Saskatchewan roots where they left off at the end of last season, some players decided to make an adventure out of their journey to the CFL team’s training camp.

Rolan Milligan, who’s starting his third season with the Riders, drove all the way from Florida to get to training camp.

“I drove from my hometown of Lake Wales, Florida. I stopped in Atlanta, went through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and then across the border. I think it was 36 hours; that’s what the GPS said,” Milligan explained.

Milligan said he decided to drive this year because he wanted to be able to move at his own pace, but also because his wife and three kids are planning on joining him during the season. His kids are aged eight, three and two.

“My (oldest) son saw me play one game back when I was in the NFL. My two young ones haven’t,” he said. “I love my family. I hate being away from them, but it’s going to be good getting to see them every day.”

Asked about his 36-hour drive, Milligan didn’t have much to say other than it was tedious.

“It was boring, man. I was fighting,” Milligan said. “Once you get to a certain part, all you see is just open area — not too many buildings. It’s just open highway. There wasn’t much happening out there.”

The drive from Florida might’ve been tough for Milligan, but Riders running back Jamal Morrow spoke highly of his drive from San Diego to Saskatoon.

“I left from the San Diego area, so we drove up through Las Vegas to get to Salt Lake City, Utah,” Morrow explained. “You get to see the red rocks, the Zion (National Park) — it was super nice. Then from Salt Lake, I went to Billings, Montana. I drove up the rest of Utah (and then) you go through Idaho and then you get to Montana.”

Morrow says he was able to pass through Yellowstone National Park on his way towards Montana and take some time to enjoy it.

“It was a beautiful drive. You get to see the scenic routes. At Yellowstone, I got to stop on the side of the road a little bit and it was really nice,” he said.

“Nobody was out there. It was just mountains, nature, people hiking, camping (and) fishing. I felt like I was a nature guy.”

On his way to Billings, Morrow stopped in Bozeman and saw the Montana State football stadium where he had played before. He would’ve played against the Bobcats while he was at Washington State.

“It was cool just to kind of see where all that is and see what’s by that stadium,” he added.

After he arrived in Billings, he was supposed to drive the next day to Regina, but says he had to spend an extra night in Minot, N.D., because of visa issues.

It was the first time he did the drive and Morrow said he did it because he wanted to be able to use his car while he’s staying in Regina during the season.

When asked if he would do it again, Morrow wouldn’t give a straight answer, but gave a review of what he thought about the trip.

“It was just an experience. I like road trips — not too many, but one road trip is good enough for me,” he added.

When he eventually has to retake the trip at the end of the season, Morrow is hoping it’ll be in December with a Grey Cup ring under his belt.

Training Camp Day 2

Day 2 of training camp was hot and at points, it felt like it was a little slow and another day of getting everyone back into football shape. But head coach Craig Dickenson was pleased with his team’s efforts.

“(It was) another good day,” Dickenson said. “We try to stack good practices and I think we were able to do that today. I think the heat got to them a little bit. It’s warm, but in the long run, I think that’s going to be beneficial.”

One noticeable thing was the number of footballs being dropped by receivers. Dickenson said he noticed the same trend.

“I saw the same thing and (the rash of dropped passes) was near the end of that second (pass skeleton session),” he said. “The coaching point we’re going to make (Monday) night is, ‘As you get tired, you’ve got to turn up your focus even more,’ and I think that’s what happened.”

Dickenson felt the first two days of practice have been about emphasis.

The pads will come on at training camp for the first time Tuesday.

There will also have to be 10 cuts made by midnight, which Dickenson isn’t a fan of.

“It’s hard and it’s not fair to some of the guys honestly because they haven’t been here long enough,” he added.

Dickenson noted that whenever the next off-season comes around, that’s one item he’d like to bring up to the CFL. Dickenson wants those players who are getting cut to have more time to showcase what they can do.

As for players he noticed Monday, Dickenson thought rookie linebacker Kolby Harvell-Peel and rookie defensive back Jaxon Ford both had strong showings.

The Riders will be back on the Griffiths Stadium field Tuesday starting at 9 a.m.