Picton living a dream playing with the Rams
This column is brought to you by the Number 4.
Thanks in large part to the phenomenal play of quarterback Noah Picton — who wears No. 4 — the University of Regina Rams are fourth in the CIS football rankings.
“The stars just seem to be aligned right now with No. 4,” Picton says in advance of Saturday’s date with the archrival University of Saskatchewan Huskies (2 p.m., new Mosaic Stadium).
“If that luck can continue for me personally, hopefully our team standings will go up and then eventually the team will be No. 1. We’ll see how it goes from here.”
No. 4 is popular with elite quarterbacks in the greater Regina area, considering that the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Darian Durant also wears that number.
“It wasn’t a Darian Durant or Brett Favre type of thing,” Picton says when asked about his numerical selection.
“There’s some big names out there who are No. 4, but you can actually thank Marc Mueller for the choice.”
Even though Mueller wore No. 14 when he quarterbacked the Rams.
“Everything comes down to Marc Mueller, it seems,” Picton, a LeBoldus Golden Suns product, says with a chuckle. “I was training with the Rams and Marc was the guy there and he was a bit of a mentor to me.
“When I signed with the team, he had just graduated, so 14 was available. When I started telling people that I was going to carry on with my 14, which I wore in high school, they all started bugging me that I was going to be like the next little Mueller and the skinnier version of Mueller.
“With all the good things that he did on the field, I figured that I’d better drop the (No.) 1 and kind of make my own image on the team.”
Suffice to say that he has succeeded.
In four games this season, Picton has thrown for 1,714 yards and 14 touchdowns while also gaining a team-high 182 rushing yards. His efficiency rating is a stratospheric 174.8. He leads the CIS in aerial yards and is tied for top spot in touchdown passes.
“With the Regina Rams growing up, this is what I always envisioned it would be like when I was watching guys like Darryl Leason, Teale Orban and Marc Mueller,’’ says the 21-year-old son of Dean Picton, a former star quarterback with the junior Rams. “The Regina Rams kind of have that persona to them.
“The way we’re going right now, it is really enjoyable. We’re just going out there on the field and we’re having fun. You’re playing with your best friends. This is kind of how I always envisioned it would go and, if we keep working, hopefully it keeps on that track.”
Picton has been on track to play for the Rams since his early days in elementary school.
He used to draw pictures that included the Vanier Cup and a Rams helmet. As a six-year old, he received for Christmas a Rams helmet — which is still on display in his bedroom.
“It is absolutely no exaggeration when I say that since my earliest childhood memories, I’ve wanted to play for this team and get them to a Vanier Cup,” Picton says.
It helped that he was able to receive expert tutelage from his father, along with longtime Rams offensive co-ordinator Bernie Schmidt and, of course, Mueller. They are, in the words of Picton, “the three biggest factors in my football success to date.”
Picton was not yet born when his father played for the Rams. Extant video footage from that era is scant, to the younger Picton’s chagrin.
“That’s one of the big things that I wish I would have seen because of all the critiques that he gives me,” a proud son says. “I’d like to go back and watch his film and see if he’s as perfect as everyone says he was. I’d like to for once flip the roles and maybe give him a few words of advice like he has to me.”
Picton also received plenty of advice from two accomplished CFL quarterbacks — Durant and Kevin Glenn — while attending the Roughriders’ training camp in 2015.
“They really made me feel like I was another teammate of theirs,” an appreciative Picton says.
Picton is now applying all the knowledge he has acquired, combining it with his immense talent, and routinely slicing and dicing opposing defences.
And he is savouring every millisecond.
“There’s days when you get off the practice field and you think, ‘This is what I’ve wanted to do my entire life,’ ” the personable Picton marvels.
“I’ve worked hard. I’ve had some great people around me who have been able to kind of lead me in the right direction and deserve a lot of credit, but it is sometimes surreal to think that this is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life and right now I’m kind of living that dream.”