Before Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Thomas Perry even set foot on the field in a Canadian Football League game, he was already turning heads in the team’s locker room.
In a world filled with incredibly strong individuals, Perry takes it to another level — to the point that even players who have pretty much seen it all in the game are astonished with what he does in the weight room.
“He's unbelievable,” quarterback Trevor Harris said last week in the lead-up to Saskatchewan's win over the Montreal Alouettes, “He's a relentless worker. He's in there in the morning at six o'clock in the morning with us lifting. And he’s one of the strongest people I've ever seen in my life. The guy’s squatting 700 pounds and it's almost like he doesn't even know how strong he is… I mean, the guy is an absolute animal.”
You don’t throw around that kind of weight without having a pretty solid base to work from, and Perry is quick to thank his coaches and trainers while growing up for helping build his 6-foot-3, 311-pound frame.
“There are a lot of good coaches over the years who I'm very thankful for who taught me how to be aware of how to train properly and how to take care of your body,” Perry said after practice on Wednesday. “Obviously, I'm very young, and I've got a lot left to learn, and I want to keep learning.”
Part of that is how to build his body for the professional game, something that strength and conditioning coach Dan Farthing has been more than happy to be a part of.
“He gives us two good full-body lifts a week. that's what I did in college, and it worked for me,” said Perry, who spent four seasons with the Division III Middlebury Panthers. “I've just kept doing that, making sure to push the weight a little bit just to get the stimulus but not go too hard so you're not tying yourself out for football.”
Now, of course, all the strength in the world means little without technique. To that end, Perry has been just as hard at work learning the pro game, and evolved so quickly after his signing on Apr. 27 that the team was confident in subbing him at the last minute back in Week 19 against the Alouettes.
“It's been an adjustment for sure,” Perry said. “The one yard off still takes a while to get used to because it changes your landmarks. Your landmarks are all tighter because they have more space in front of you.
“I've got to bring my second step more vertical. I've got to close the space with my hips in the run game. I'm too far overextended in the run game. I've got to widen my landmark with my left hand in the pass. There's a lot of stuff I've got to work on and get better, but I'm excited to keep working on it and keep getting better.”
Perry makes sure he’s a student of the game to help improve in those areas.
“When coach goes through the game film, I just write notes,” the 23-year old Killingsworth, Conn. product said. “Everything he does is number one, number two, number three, number four. Those are the things I got to work on, and I could find time throughout the week to address what he tells me to work on, and that's how I attack it.”
Harris has little doubt that if Perry keeps up with his current ways, he’ll be in the CFL for as long as he wants to be.
“He's a pro's pro, and on top of that, he's just like such a great guy to be around,” Harris said before adding an anecdote from an offensive line dinner his family recently hosted.
“We had some ribs and my second son, Trace, he was like, ‘Dad, can you break this bone?’ I was like, ‘no’. And T.P. was like, ‘give it to me’ And he just broke it, I was just like, this guy’s something else, I'm glad he's protecting me, not trying to hurt me.”
The Riders are currently in the final stages of preparation for their regular season finale against the Edmonton Elks at Mosaic Stadium. The Rider Broadcast Network will have all the action Saturday beginning with the pregame show with Teagan Witko and Wes Cates at 11 a.m., followed by Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder with the game call at kickoff at 2 p.m.
