Signed in September by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, RB Trent Richardson is grateful to the CFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders for his first season up North.

“I appreciate the CFL. I appreciate Saskatchewan. The whole team, man, for what they did for me, I can’t never repay them back.” Richardson said in a recent article by Gerald Narciso on Bleacher Report.

The article goes on to explain how in Canada the pressures associated with Richardson’s draft status were gone and allowed Richardson to have a “fresh start”.

“A big thing for me going to Canada was to get back on the field with a fresh start,” Richardson said via Bleacher Report. “Not a lot of people around me … just being not distracted and playing football like I usually play football.”

In his first CFL season Richardson appeared in four games, totaling 259-yards on the ground to go with two touchdowns. He was especially impressive in a week 19 game where he had 20 carries for 127 yards and the two scores.

“It was almost like it was a rebirth,” Richardson said.

Richardson also spoke to the passion of Rider Nation and truly recognized their passion. “That’s one of the biggest things with people here—they love their team, they love their green,” he said.

Read the full article on Bleacher Report.com here.