Saskatchewan Roughriders' receiver Mitchell Picton's former university coach, Frank McCrystal is part of the 2025 Canadian Football Hall of Fame class.
"It's incredible the things that he's done for the football community in Regina, Saskatchewan, and nationally as well. It speaks to the kind of person he was, the kind of coach that he was. Very well deserved and pretty happy for Frank," Picton told voice of the Riders Dave Thomas.
McCrystal was Picton's head coach for his first two seasons with the Regina Rams from 2013 through 2014. Picton and other Rams players agree McCrystal made a significant impact on their lives.
"A lot of his former players from the U of R, that's what they would probably talk about more. He was trying to create great football players, but also great men in the community," Picton said.
"When they left the U of R, we had great people going back to whatever community they were from or a lot of them ended up staying in Regina. Frank has a lot to do with that and speaks to the program that he was running at the U of R."
Picton knows there are no days off in professional football and he's ready to be put in any situation, especially when other players are injured.
"This game's always going to throw you curveballs, I try to be prepared as well as I can," Picton said. "That's part of the game that I really enjoy, diving into the offensive install and how we're trying to attack defences. The more you know the better chance you have of getting thrown in there into different positions. It's a job that I'm happy to do, wherever I am on the field, I'm out there to do a job and contribute to helping this team win."
The Riders will be without Canadian receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker for an undetermined amount of time after he suffered a foot injury against the Ottawa Redblacks in the team's season opener.
"I'm gutted for Schaffer-Baker, but he's going to come back stronger and we're fully confident in that," Picton said. "You can't replace a guy like that, but we're very confident in the room that we have as well. We feel like we're very deep and we're going to have guys step up and make plays."
Last year, Picton suited up in 12 games for the Green and White. He recorded 16 receptions for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Before this season started, the Regina native was dealing with some injuries.
"At the start of camp, a little something I was working through that I came in with," Picton recalled. "Not a big deal now, completely over that and I feel really good right now."
The Roughriders travel to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats on Saturday. Catch the pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 2 p.m., including exclusive interviews, while Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 5 p.m. You can hear everything on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
