Tiger-Cats LB Lawrence excited for Eastern Semi-Final after turbulent season

Simoni Lawrence's season, much like his Hamilton Tiger-Cats' season, has seen highs and lows.

After missing significant time this season for the first time in his decade-long career in the Canadian Football League, Lawrence is excited to be back with his team to face the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday afternoon's Eastern Semi-Final on TSN1 (1 pm ET/11 am PT).

Coming off back-to-back Grey Cup appearances against the Winnipeg Bombers in 2019 and 2021, the Tiger-Cats got off to an uncharacteristic start to their season. They opened the 2022 campaign with four straight losses, though the veteran linebacker said the team was never derailed and kept their sights locked in on their goal.

"It was one of those things where you just have to like keep holding everything in perspective, you know, CFL seasons are super long," the 33-year-old Upper Darby, Pa., native told TSN.

"And, you know, we always talk about just climbing the mountain you know, and there's gonna be so much at first as long as everybody stays together and gives us the opportunity and a chance that we'll always have a shot to get the common goal and get a chance to compete for the Grey Cup."

While the walls of Tim Hortons Field are built with thick concrete, that didn't stop some of the outside noise from creeping in. Fans called for wholesale changes from players to personnel amid an 0-4 start that amplified with a pair of losses at home.

"Obviously, in this business, you never really know because it's a high-performance business where results do better," said Lawrence on if he felt that a drastic move was on the horizon.

"But we always, like, I think we have a great leader and coach O (Orlondo Steinauer), that always just keeps it real with us and tell us what's going on and that's what he did every week. I think where we drew the line was earlier in the year on seven-eleven (July 11). We just decided like, 'Hey, everything we do must contribute to winning,' and everybody just started putting in more time and doing things that we needed to do to win games."

And win games they did. The Tiger-Cats went on to get their first two wins of the season in their next four games.

Morale was high and the season was looking promising until Lawrence went from experiencing adversity as a teammate to looking at the big picture as an individual after an injury would see Lawrence miss Weeks 5-9.

The perennial All-Star and fan favourite was later dealt an even larger blow as a knee injury resulted in him being placed on the six-game injured list, where he would miss a large chunk of games for the first time in his career.

"Yeah, that was a whole other battle itself," said Lawrence. "I got hurt pretty badly in the Toronto game with a knee injury. And I wasn't supposed to be back until like playoffs, they were assuming. But [I did a] tough rehab and was able to get back in the Calgary game. And that was just adversity itself because I've never not played football – a professional football season, this is my first year missing this amount of games; just any kind of aspect of football in my life. So that was tough, but you know, [they're] just a great group of guys that held it down. And when I came back, beating Calgary (Stampeders) in Calgary was one of those unreal experiences because I've never done it in my career."

When asked if he was ever worried about not being able to return, Lawrence spoke openly about how tough the rehab process was for him.

"Man, rehab is tough," said Lawrence. "I got a respect for players that get injured and come back and compete. Just because it's like, one day you feel good, the next day you feel good and then you have one setback like,' Oh, man, I don't know what's gonna happen.' And then it's like, you start thinking like, 'Oh man, should I just rest for the next season where I'm fully healthy because either way I'm gonna have to play this season half hurt.' But I mean, you have all those thoughts, but I had a great support team that just tried to keep me focused while keeping me focused on the goal. And that was to return and try to help my team win the Grey Cup."

Amid Lawrence's rehab, his Tiger-Cats trashed the rival Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Week 15, 48-31, sparking a new attitude and a winning streak as they went on to win four of their remaining five games.

"Oh, that win was that was big," said Lawrence. "It was just one of those wins where it was like, 'all right, let's get the ball rolling. This is like the best team in the CFL.' And you know, there was a complete dominant game and that just shows what happens when we play on all three aspects: special teams defence and offence. And we were firing on all cylinders."

"You know, that was the kind of effort that we needed the whole season. And it was great just for the team to see, you know, because sometimes you guys see things and believe it – even though like we have a high belief. That was one of those things that let us know that where we're right there with the best of the best."

Lawrence was able to return soon enough in Week 19 against the Stampeders as, after defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Tiger-Cats clinched a playoff berth in Calgary, something that meant a lot to Lawrence given what he'd been through just to get back on the playing field.

"It meant so much, honestly," said Lawrence on the personal meaning of the 35-32 win on Oct. 14. 

"I was getting down and just like re-watching some of the videos of me not being able to walk. For like two weeks I was on crutches and driving like two hours away to get treatment and all that stuff and then just being able to clench after Saskatchewan lost, that was such a great feeling. Just to have the opportunity now, like I feel like my knee's finally getting healthier for the playoffs and that it's like another opportunity to showcase my talent with my teammates as well, that's what I'm looking forward to."

Lawrence's talents will be on display against two stars of the regular season: Most Outstanding Player nominee Eugene Lewis and 2021 East Division MOP William Stanback. Lawrence predicts both players will bring their best on Sunday.

"I expect them to come out and showcase their stars," said Lawrence on the Alouettes' offence. "They got a good running back in No. 25 (Walter Fletcher) and 31 (Stanback). And then they have a veteran quarterback (Trevor Harris) and they have a playmaker at wide receiver (Lewis) that goes up and makes plays, so I expect them to try to get to that. And you know, I don't think it's gonna be any kind of secret on what kind of game that's gonna be, It's gonna be a physical game. And that's just what you expect from anytime you're coming out of the East. The most physical always wins and that's just been the case the past two years getting out of the East. We just played physical and smart and were able to win the games."

As one of the veteran voices in the Hamilton locker room, the standout linebacker's message to his teammates has been just that as they embark on what they hope will be a third straight Grey Cup appearance.

"It's just accountability and discipline," said Lawrence. "Because everybody is going to be hype. I just feel like we're a physical team, that's just the way it is in Hamilton – there's no other way. Whoever can be the most disciplined, whoever can commit the least amount of penalties and mental errors. Whoever can just come into this zone and play football and have fun and not worry about the extracurricular activities, just focus on winning."

“That's just the only focus: winning."