Much has changed for Riders receiver, new father Jordan Williams-Lambert

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

It’s been a long time coming for Saskatchewan Roughriders’ receiver Jordan Williams-Lambert.

The former Ball State Cardinal signed a one-year contract extension with the Riders on Wednesday. He was set to become a free agent in February.

“I feel like it wasn’t about the money, it was about the opportunity to continue playing. Hopefully pursuing the opportunity I missed out on a year ago,” said Williams-Lambert, who didn’t really put much thought into exploring other opportunities in the CFL.

“I feel like I owe to them before any other team in that league an opportunity to go for a Grey Cup.”

Williams-Lambert re-joined the Riders late in the 2019 season after a brief stint with the NFL’s Chicago Bears.

However, Williams-Lambert played in just three games after returning to the Green and White, registering five catches for 57 yards.

Even though Williams-Lambert hasn’t seen much CFL action since 2018 when he was named the West Division’s Most Outstanding Rookie, the Indianapolis native isn’t too concerned about his lack of game action over the last few years.

“I play year-round football. I played more football than people that aren’t playing football right now. It’s been cool to heal up and see what I can do during this next game and see what numbers I can put together — a better contract and be a number one receiver.”

Since we’ve last seen Williams-Lambert on the field, much has changed in his life. Most notably, he’s now a father. During this extended off-season of sorts, Williams-Lambert and his wife, Christa, welcomed their son Ameer Jordan Williams-Lambert to their family.

“I call him ‘bro-bro.’ He’s going to have the nickname, AJ,” said the proud father.

Williams-Lambert admits it’s been a juggling act since the birth of his son. Naturally, he’s been preparing to return to action, but he also understands that he can’t push it too hard in order to keep his family safe from COVID-19.

Professionally, things have changed for Williams-Lambert as well. He’ll be working with a new offensive coordinator in 2021 after Jason Maas joined the club in 2020.

So far, Williams-Lambert likes what he’s heard from the former head coach of the Edmonton Football Team.

“It kind of led to me signing back, seeing the energy he had with making sure we got started,” he said. “We were doing these calls through the whole summer, where me and (quarterback) Isaac (Harker) were going through plays.”

The next change Jordan-Lambert is looking forward to is getting back to action on the field when training camp finally opens.