It is a long way from Prattville to Riderville.
But that was Derrick Moncrief’s path — unimaginable as it was, once upon a time.
Growing up in Prattville, a city in Alabama that is only slightly larger than Moose Jaw or Prince Albert, Moncrief could not have envisioned that his home would eventually be nearly 2,000 kilometres away, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
“Never in a million years,” Moncrief, a two-time All-Star linebacker with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, says with a chuckle.
“But God will do some funny things. He’ll bring you back full circle.”
Nowhere near the Arctic Circle, mind you, but nonetheless to a province that has just survived one of the longest winters anyone can remember.
That could be difficult to digest for someone who grew up in the southern United States, not even a two-hour drive away from Florida.
And Saskatchewan doesn’t necessarily jump off the map as the preferred destination for someone who played in the National Football League.
Remember, too, that Moncrief is a player who had options. With a resume that includes All-Star credentials, his services would have been coveted across the Canadian Football League.
Yet, there was the overwhelming realization — not too long ago — that Saskatchewan was the place to be.
“After I had my stint in the NFL, I was fasting and praying and I got this revelation that I’m supposed to be here,” says Moncrief, who spent the 2020 football season and part of 2021 in the NFL.
“I saw this picture. It’s on my Instagram page. This Roughriders fan, he had my jersey on. It had ‘MONCRIEF’ on the back.
“He was standing in Pil Country and he was holding up a ‘D’ and a ‘fence’ and you could see the blue skies.
“And I got this revelation that this is my purpose to be here.”
Moncrief began his pro football career in Saskatchewan in 2017 after graduating from Oklahoma State University.
After three seasons in Saskatchewan, Moncrief spent time in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders (2020) and Los Angeles Rams (2020 and 2021).
He was a member of the Edmonton Elks for the latter portion of the 2021 season before signing a two-year contract with the Roughriders on Feb. 8, 2022.
Which brings us back to that photo …
“It was crazy,” Moncrief marvels. “The fan posted it one day. I was going through my Twitter and I saw that picture. I was like, ‘Wow …’
“Even though I did that stint in Edmonton, I knew that I was supposed to be here. I looked at that photo and pondered it and it hit me that my purpose is here. Of course, it’s on the football field, but it’s beyond the field — doing stuff in the community and inspiring people from all over the world, all through this province.
“It has been really good for me.”
Especially when you consider that Moncrief and his Regina-born wife, Kasia, are expecting their first child.
The due date is July 1 — Canada Day, suitably enough, for a soon-to-be dad who has embraced this country and this community.
“We’ve got a baby girl coming into this world,” Moncrief says with a smile. “It gives me even more motivation to carry out the legacy and make sure that she’s good and set up financially and everything like that. I’m looking forward to it.”
Looking back, Moncrief is endlessly grateful to his parents — Derrick Sr. and Erica — and six siblings for their sacrifices and support.
Even when there were some tough-love scenarios, it was for the best.
Moncrief, for example, remembers being coached by his father, who is synonymous with sports in the Prattville area.
“My dad, he’s a superhero,” a proud son says. “I can tell you a story now where my dad started training me and my brothers. I was five or six years old and he was teaching us how to catch a football, how to jump rope, how to do table hops …
“If we dropped the ball, we had this long dirt road by my grandma’s house. He’d make us take off and run and he’d tell us to go get him some grass — the legal kind.
“He’d say, ‘Go get me some grass,’ and that signified that you went all the way down to the end (of the road) and you had to bring it back to him.
“That was discipline. He showed me discipline at an early age.”
At the same time, mental toughness was being instilled.
“We had this railroad track,” Moncrief adds. “The practice field was down the street. Sometimes he’d make us walk home. Or, we’d have to walk to practice and jog back. That mental fortitude helped me get to what I’m doing today.
“I was on the field (at Mosaic Stadium on Tuesday). I work out by myself. I like to be in my own zone during the off-season to prepare myself. Those moments, 15 or 20 years ago, still live with me to this day.”
That brings us back to Moncrief’s earlier reference to coming “full circle.”
Moncrief’s parents visited Regina on Labour Day weekend of last year to celebrate their son’s marriage to the former Kasia Kazeil.
The wedding ceremony had actually been performed by Roughriders team chaplain Jared Lacoste on Aug. 27, 2022 in the living room of Derrick and Kasia’s home in Regina.
“We did another wedding (celebration) March 9 of this year,” Moncrief notes. “We went to Nashville, Tennessee to celebrate with my family from down south. We had a lot of fun.
“We hit the bank account, but we had a lot of fun.”
And then it was back to Regina — and that interminable winter.
“I love it here,” Moncrief says. “It actually reminds me of home. That’s why I like it so much, especially the football and the people. You’re going to meet some nice people around here and they just make you feel at home.
“It’s football-crazy, which I love. I love the community and I love everything about it.”
Does that mean Moncrief is destined to be a Regina lifer?
“I’m here, man,” he says without equivocation. “It has been great.
“I shot a video with Tandem X Visuals for ‘I love the city of Regina’ and I mentioned that Regina is like my second home. It’s a home away from home.
“I’m from Prattville, Alabama, but to be here and to anchor some roots here … yeah, I should be here until I’m 100 years old.”
