Edmonton Eskimos offensive lineman Simeon Rottier was so busy in the spring of 2009 that he almost didn’t have time for the CFL Draft.
“I was trying to finish up school and we got married on April 18,” recalled Rottier. “It was just before the draft, so I had a lot on my mind.
“It was an exciting year, for sure,” he said. “Once I found out I was getting drafted, that was pretty cool. That was an exciting day, too.”
Rottier, 33, who has been the Eskimos left guard for most of the past five seasons after signing with Edmonton as a free agent in 2012, was drafted first overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after being the top-ranked pick in the CFL’s new Scouting Bureau that year.
In the process, he became the first member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears to be selected No. 1 in the CFL Draft.
“Being a No. 1 pick was cool, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t look at it as all of a sudden I had extra privileges,” Rottier said. “I didn’t look at myself as any better than anyone else who got drafted. … Being picked No. 1 doesn’t mean anything unless you do something with it.
“I was a little bit surprised when they had the ratings out and I was No. 1,” he continued. “I was pretty sure I was getting drafted, right, so I was more thinking about getting a chance. I wasn’t too worried about where I went in the draft, just getting the opportunity, I guess.”
The 2017 CFL draft will start at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Rottier spend draft day with both his family and his wife’s family, although he had to have his phone handy and be ready to answer a couple of questions after he was chosen by the Ti-Cats.
“It was pretty cool to be able to share that with both my families,” he said. “It was a bit of a whirlwind. My goal was always to go as far as I could in football, but when … they said you’re getting drafted, it’s kind of surreal.”
Who do you know?
Prior to the CFL Draft, Rottier was one of two Canadian players invited to play in the NCAA East-West Shrine Bowl in 2008. He played about two-thirds of the game after one of the other tackles was injured. Years later, Rottier discovered that Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly was also at that U.S. college all-star game.
“There’s a picture of us about six people apart,” Rottier said. “I had no idea who he was. Obviously, he didn’t know who I was; some Canadian kid. My mom found the picture a few years later once we were teammates (in Edmonton).”
Rottier doesn’t think he even met Reilly at the time, but he did get introduced to tight end Bear Pascoe, who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2012, and Sebastian Vollmer, who played tackle for the New England Patriots. Offensive tackle Louis Vasquez, who was also at the Shrine Bowl, won a Super Bowl with the Denver Browns in 2016.
Of note, three players selected in Rottier’s draft year later became his teammates with the Eskimos – No. 2 pick/defensive lineman Étienne Légaré in 2012, No. 5 pick/receiver Matt Carter in 2012-13 and second-round selection/defensive back Ryan Hinds, who played 22 games in Edmonton over the 2013, ’14 and ’15 seasons.