Commentary: The Story Of Weston Dressler

(Listen daily for the RP Commentary on the All New Hits 98 CKHD & LTD Radio)

Today on the commentary we’re going to slowwwww things down a little in this very fast-paced world.

Remember way back on Friday when the Canadian Football Hall of Fame announced a stellar 2024 induction class which includes Weston Dressler and former Rider offensive coordinator Ray Jauch?

We haven’t had a chance to discuss that here yet; then the Stanley Cup Playoffs took over for the weekend!

It’s rare that you remember the first time you laid eyes on someone, but I do with Weston.

It was June of 2008, on the first day of Roughriders training camp at Taylor Field. For whatever reason I’d shown up late, and CTV’s Chris Hodges walked up to me and said, “Are you here to watch the Weston Dressler show?”

I asked him what he was referring to, and Hodgey said to get a load of the diminutive receiver from UND, the pride of Bismarck, ND.

It’s true. On Day 1 of Rider training camp, the 5’7” stick of dynamite was diving all over the field, redlining at 100 miles an hour, and treating every rep like it was the Super Bowl. He would go on to do that every single day over his 11 pro seasons, which included a stint with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014.

You wanna make the Hall of Fame kids? Give 100% every single day.

And Weston’s story is an inspirational one. If I recall correctly his father – I believe his name is Terry – had an underaged and undersized Weston on his youth football team in Bismarck. League officials weren’t going to allow Weston to play because he was so small, and not old enough anyway.

His Dad said if Weston couldn’t play, he wasn’t going to coach.

That was the end of that, and the rest is history.

It feels like a lot of people could learn a thing or two about the story of Weston Dressler, and not just kids.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm & 5 pm on Game+TV, WQEE Radio, Podcast & YouTube Live)