RAPPIN’ RIDER
Getting to know Naaman Roosevelt
A discussion with Naaman Roosevelt was so wide-ranging that we even talked about the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
In addition to being one of the CFL’S elite receivers, Roosevelt has an affinity for basketball, rap music, and crossing the goal-line in an NFL game.
The six-pointer was registered Oct. 16, 2011, when Roosevelt caught a short pass from Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and motored for a 60-yard touchdown against the New York Giants.
“It was pretty special for me, especially with it being my first touchdown, and just to do it in the NFL,” the Buffalo-born Roosevelt said. “As a kid, you dream of something like that. Right now, I’m just trying to write history up here and continue to build my legacy up here.”
Roosevelt chased history with the 2016 Roughriders, catching 76 passes for 1,095 yards before suffering a knee injury in his 11th game of the season.
He was on pace to threaten or eclipse the team’s single-season receiving-yardage record — 1,715, set by Joey Walters in 1981 — before being sidelined.
Roosevelt rebounded from the injury last season, catching 75 passes for 1,035 yards in 14 games.
The numbers are down early this season, principally because of a revolving door at quarterback and the lack of a complementary receiving threat.
Duron Carter, whose eight TD receptions tied him with Roosevelt for the team lead last season, is now being used at defensive back. Defences can therefore key on Roosevelt, who has 14 catches for 166 yards and two TDS in four games.
But one of those majors — a five-yard connection with David Watford during a 23-17 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on June 30 — was the type of highlightreel reception that people have come to expect from Roosevelt.
“I’ve just been blessed to have had the opportunity to play for Saskatchewan — the best team in the CFL, with the best fans,” he said, smiling as always.
Roosevelt, 30, began playing football when he was six years old. Despite his passion for the sport, he did not initially envision football becoming the priority.
“I had hoop dreams,” he said. “I was playing basketball all day, every day. As soon as I woke up, I was outside playing basketball, and I kept doing that until the street lights came on.
“I thought I was going to the NBA. I definitely had dreams. But after a while, my friends started being 6-5 and 6-7, and I was 6-1. I was just like, ‘Nah, let me just stick with this football thing.’
“It worked out, though.”
That said, Roosevelt still enjoys some workouts on the court.
“I’ve got a basketball in my car all the time,” he said. “If I see a hoop, I might go out there and shoot around for a couple of hours. It’s just something that I love to do and something to get my mind off things. When I’m out there, I just feel free, shooting around all day.”
Roosevelt has also applied that mindset to music.
“I used to rap a little bit, too, especially in high school,” he recalled. “We’d usually rap all day, every day, just to get our minds off stuff. It was something just to let your mind free — kind of poetry, pretty much. For me, it was just writing raps.”
Roosevelt was a member of a rap ensemble known as the Grind Hard Boyz.
His rap name — Name Nyce — is also part of his Twitter handle (@nyce18).
“We still do (rap) a little bit,” Roosevelt noted. “Me and Duron still do it. Most of the receivers still kind of rap.
“Even when we’re on a plane ride coming back after a win, we’ll start freestyling the whole time. It makes the plane rides a lot faster when we’re coming back from the East.”
Appropriate to the aviation reference, one of Roosevelt’s rap songs is entitled Take Off.
Also on Youtube, one can find Roosevelt’s NFL touchdown — a play on which he simply ran away from the Giants’ defence.
One final question, then. Given a choice of only one video — touchdown or rap — which one would he pick?
“Probably the 60-yard touchdown,” Roosevelt concluded. “That was cool. If you want to check something out, see that first.”