Defensive tackle Braiden Watson is the perfect example of a team player.

A hockey and lacrosse player growing up, he didn't hit the gridiron for the first time until his senior year of high school after the coaxing of a friend. He had a tremendous debut in his grade 12 season, making it all the way to the Division 2 championship as a member of the Miles Mac Buckeyes that also featured current Bisons Jayden McKoy and Houston Rennie.

Despite his early success, the biggest takeaway for Watson from his lone year of high school football was the comradery and family aspect.

"[Head] Coach [Dan] Washnuk emphasized being part of a team and that no one is bigger than the group," he says. "That's probably the biggest thing that I took away from it."

The following year in 2012, Watson took his talents to the Winnipeg Rifles junior football club, in an effort to hone his skills as an interior lineman and ideally make it to the university level. He excelled with the program, but in a different position.

"In my first year there, I was the starting left tackle and I weighed 230 pounds as a fresh 18-year-old kid," he says. "Over the years, [offensive line] coaches [Chris] Bochen and [Stephen] Fedus helped me to be a better o-lineman than I originally was."

Despite being heavily undersized at first, Watson never second guessed the coaches' decision to place him on offensive side of the ball. His dedication and diligence to learning the tackle position paid off in full in 2014, when he, along with three other teammates, were selected to participate in Bombers training camp. He was also named a Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) All-Canadian at season's end.

"That was super big," he says of the All-Canadian honour.

"I didn't really see it coming, and then all of a sudden coach [Ryan] Karhut gave me a text and said congrats on being named an All-Canadian. The awards ceremony was in Langley that year, so me and couple other guys from the team flew out there and received our All-Canadian rings. It was pretty special."

After three solid seasons with the Rifles, Watson accomplished what he sought out to do: earn a scholarship to play with his hometown university.

"Right away I knew I was going to be a Bison," he says. "Other schools were talking to me, but I just wanted to be a Bison. There was really no bartering or anything. It was like, yeah I'm coming here."

Originally recruited to play on the o-line, Watson once against did what was best for the team in 2016, shifting back to defensive tackle. He hasn't missed a game in any of the past three years, registering 19 tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass break up.

"It's been awesome," Watson says of his time with the Bisons. "Time flies though. In your first few years you don't really notice it, but when you get into your last year it's like holy crap, it's winding down pretty fast."

Watson heads into his final home game with Manitoba this Saturday against UBC. When he reflects on his time with the Herd, it's the relationships he's developed with his teammates that stands out.

"Some of my really close friends are, and have been members of this team," he says. "It's basically a really big family, and we're with each other for essentially 10 hours a day during the season. It's fun to be around and to be a part of."