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Video: Alouettes' linebacker Bryn Roy on what he learned from steer wrestling
Many CFL players took part in different sports growing up, but there aren't many who are former steer wrestlers. That's the case with Montreal Alouettes' linebacker Bryn Roy, though. The 27-year-old Roy, the son of world rodeo steer wrestling champion Mark Roy (a member of both the Canadian Professional Rodeo Hall of Fame and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame), grew up in Dalemead, Alberta both playing football and wrestling steers with his dad and his brother Denver. As he told Global's Lisa McGregor, he thinks that experience has helped his football career:
Roy told McGregor playing linebacker in particular is a perfect fit for him, as it requires the same approach as steer wrestling.
I’m the predator, I’m seeking the ball carrier. It’s man versus man. In the arena, it’s man versus beast,” he said. “You’re always trying to beat the clock in rodeo and you’re always trying to beat the man in front of you in football. And so, it’s made a competitor out of me."
Roy had a long and winding path to the CFL, though. He played both safety and wide receiver at Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks, Alberta, and shone there, winning a provincial championship and earning an all-province nod at safety. He then went to Snow College in Utah and played well for a couple of years, then attended Division II Texas A&M Commerce, where he turned into a key linebacker for the Lions. That led to Montreal selecting him in the fifth round of the 2012 CFL draft, 34th overall. From there, Roy's managed to carve out a niche as an excellent special teams player, one who had an impressive nine tackles on that unit last season and one who might see more defensive reps in the future. He told CFL.ca's Rick Moffat last fall that his steer-wrestling experience helps him bring down slippery returners like Toronto's Chad Owens:
“You crawl off your horse, grab the steer by the horns, twist his head over your lap and knock him off his feet,” explains Roy, sounding very much like a man who would run toward, not away, from the Bulls of Pamplona.
“You hook a horn with your right arm and hook his nose (the steer’s, not Chad’s) in your left arm,” says the 6’1", 225-pound linebacker turned fullback, who has racked up 6 of his career-high 9 special teams tackles over the last three weeks alone. That pace over a full season would lead the nation.
“It’s a hustle game just like the art of tackling, technique driven. When all fours are up, the clock stops---I’d like to use some of those moves on Chad,” he chuckles.
So, it sounds like that rodeo background has been a big factor in Roy's success. Perhaps other CFL players should look into doing some rodeo cross-training?
