BAGG IS GOOD !!!!!!!!!

Roughriders' Rob Bagg (left) makes a catch in front of Stampeders' Milt Collins during West Final in Regina on Sunday.
Photograph by: TODD KOROL, REUTERS, Canwest News Service

Rob Bagg watched the CFL draft unfold via the Internet in the spring of 2007, surrounded by family, waiting for his name to show.

That it didn't was crushing -- but, given his career trajectory since then, not too crushing.
"I mourned for a couple of days," recalls Bagg, a Queen's University product who will start at wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders when they play the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday's Grey Cup.

That mourning stopped when Roughriders' general manager Eric Tillman phoned him with an offer to sign as a free agent. The unheralded Bagg made the team that summer, but elected to return to Queen's in Kingston, Ont., for one final season.

Last year, he cracked the roster again and with the Riders struggling with injuries at receiver, found himself plugged into the lineup.

A 146-yard game in Week 13 flashed his potential. This year he followed up by catching 59 balls for 807 yards and five touchdowns. Bagg added three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown in last weekend's West Division championship win over Calgary.

"I've had a little bit more success than guys who were drafted, so I feel like I've started to prove people wrong," Bagg said. "And once you're at this level, it doesn't matter how you got here; it's whether or not you're here. And that's how I'm looking at it.

"As soon as you stop proving yourself they'll find somebody younger who's going to go out and play harder. I'm definitely going to take the attitude that people are always going to doubt me and that I'm going to have to play my best football all the time to stay in this league."

Despite a very good Canadian college career at Queen's, Bagg never played in a Vanier Cup. To Bagg's delight, many of his old teammates are doing just that this weekend, when they play the Calgary Dinos in Saturday's Vanier Cup.

He'll watch as much of that Canadian university final as time permits, but he is not sure right now how long that will be -- Grey Cup preparations are in full swing and Saturday will be busy.

"I played on great teams in high school (including two provincial champions), but since then, I haven't really had the opportunity to play in a big game," Bagg said. "I understand the importance of this and how hard it is to get to this type of platform."

He also concedes that yes, just maybe, his career path could serve as inspiration for some other young CIS receiver hoping for a professional career.

"Anybody who's playing CIS football, if people don't think they're good enough, they shouldn't necessarily give up just because of the opinion of a few people," Bagg said. "It's cliche, but if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish your goals."

kmitchell@sp.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service