The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are going into the 2016 season with the “Grey Cup or Bust” mentality, and Tiger-Cats running back and special teams demon Anthony Woodson is no different. Going into his fifth CFL season, and second with Hamilton, Woodson has seen his productivity progress every season, with his carries and rushing yards steadily improving with each coming year. His versatility coming out of the back field, whether it’s running or catching gives that gives deadly Ticats offence another weapon in its arsenal.
Anthony Woodson played his football in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta with the Calgary Minor Football Association, the powerhouse St. Francis High School Browns and eventually gone on to star with the University of Calgary Dinos. In 2007 with the Dinos, he rushed for 1,183 yards: the second best single season in Dinos history, was a Conference all-star and was the runner up for Canada West player of the year. Woodson was named second team All-Canadian. Injuries plagued him in his next two seasons, causing him to miss all of the 2009 season, but was still drafted in the fourth round (29th overall) by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Woodson made stops with the Bombers as well as the Toronto Argonauts before travelling down the QEW to join the black and gold. He took some time to chat about what he expects for the upcoming season.
Troy Durrell: So Anthony, how’s the off-season going?
Anthony Woodson: I can’t complain, getting to do some different things, working with kids and doing some kids football camps, teaching them the proper fundamentals of football, such as learning to tackle. Especially with all the head injuries, we’re trying to instil how important tackling properly is. And then obviously focusing in on my training for next season, so it’s going well so far.
TD: So with the season approaching so quickly, something I want to touch on a little bit is the CFL Draft that’s coming up next month. Any advice that you could give the guys going through it, seeing you’ve gone through the process yourself?
AW: Definitely, I think the biggest thing is you can’t over think the process. It’s obviously a first time experience for all those guys as it was for me, but in the end, football is football, You’ve been playing it since you were a little kid so it’s going to be the same thing in the end and no matter what team you go too, it’s just a higher level of play.
TD: And with the draft coming up shortly, that means the season is quickly starting up soon too. How excited are you to get things going?
AW: Yeah, I’ve been waiting around four months now for it so it’s starting to come up pretty quickly now, it’s nice to be able to step on the field after all that training and actually use it, so yeah I’m really looking forward to it.
TD: Last season was also your first season in Hamilton, how could you compare that atmosphere and city to say Winnipeg or Toronto?
AW: I love the city of Hamilton. I’ve been fortunate with all three teams that I’ve played for so far and in every way I’ve enjoyed both my stops in Winnipeg and Toronto, as well as being fortunate to have great coaches and teammates with every team that I’ve gone to, but I can really relate to the city of Hamilton. It’s a very blue collar city, everyone’s down to earth, everyone’s very welcoming as well. It’s really a great community to play in, and to add the new facility on top just pulls it all together. Hamilton though is the first team that I’ve more often than not had conversations with the owner (Bob Young), CEO (Scott Mitchell), and general manager/coach (Kent Austin) but everyone is very down to earth and wanted to get to know me, so it was nice.
TD: That was going to lead me into my next question, about what made Hamilton so attractive when you decided to sign there in the off-season… But you already touched on it a little bit, anything you’d like to add?
AW: Really, I remember when I was going through the free agent process, I had a few different opportunities, and Austin got on the phone with me and we talked for a solid 20 to 40 minutes, just about values and nothing even really related to football. Just values, characteristics, what makes a good team player, what makes a good team and our values were so in line, after I hung up the phone with him, I went to my agent and I said “I have the end up there”.
TD: So, I want a players perspective on coach Austin. He’s known as a fiery guy, and I don’t want to say he’s not the most well liked, but as it comes across, he doesn’t seem to be everyone’s (media, fans, etc.) favourite. What are your feelings on that personally?
AW: Well what I will say about coach Austin is, everything he does is for the team and for the players so he’s willing to put himself out there, and sacrifice his reputation per se to protect us. Everything he’s doing is in relation to help us players out so we have nothing but love for him.
TD: As a team this year, I would assume the mentality is Grey Cup or bust. Are there any personal goals you’ve set for yourself that you’d like to achieve?
AW: Every year I go in and try to play more offence than I did the year before, and I’d like to establish myself eventually as an all-star in this league, but really at this point going into my fifth season, I want to make sure that I win a Grey Cup. I know that’s kind of the cliche thing to say but it is a Grey Cup or bust year for all of us, including myself personally.
TD: And then what experiences have you had in football where you knew you could play professional football? Was it at the University of Calgary or with Team Canada at the 2011 IFAF (International Federation of American Football) World Championships? Or did you know from day one that it was something you were capable of doing?
AW: I was fortunate because my dad actually played professionally as well, he played one season with the Denver Broncos and then five or six up here in the CFL. So I kind of already had that driven into my mentality, just seeing what he had gone through and he was obviously always a great mentor for me through the whole process. A couple times I guess you could say I had a coming out party of sorts. One was when I was 12-years-old in peewee, and I was named the MVP of the league, I knew I was going to be a good player from there, but in grade 10 at St. Francis was when I started coming into my own and started catching and passing other players so that’s when I had an idea that I could do something with football.
TD: Last question for you, I want you to finish off this sentence for me. It will be a successful season for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Anthony Woodson because…
AW: …we’re going to win a Grey Cup.
TD: Thank you for all your time Anthony and good luck this season.
Main Photo: Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ running back Anthony Woodson is tackled by Toronto Argonauts’ defensive back Akwasi Owusu-Ansah. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power)
