By Geoff Crane
Stampeders.com

The old adage goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It could be the title given to a book about Stampeders defensive lineman Shawn Lemon’s journey through the Canadian Football League.

Having entered the league in 2011 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Lemon was released and then signed with the Edmonton Eskimos only to be let go by the team despite making 16 tackles along with a team-leading six sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.  In 2013, Lemon was signed by the Calgary Stampeders and had a standout training camp and pre-season only to fall victim to depth on the roster, spending much of the season on the sidelines.

Fresh off his best game for the Red and White, which saw him haunt his former team with a sack, forced fumble and four tackles including one for a loss and a spot on the nightly highlight reel, Lemon finally feels like his patience and hard work is paying off.

“I just had to put my faith in God,” says the soft-spoken terrorizer of QBs about having to wait for his opportunity to secure a starting roster spot.  “I know what I can do, I just had to get comfortable in the scheme.”

Getting comfortable in the scheme employed by the Stamps defensive coordinator Rich Stubler has taken some time for Lemon but the hard work in between games has paid off, with No. 40 picking up a sack in each of his last three contests.

“‘It’s been very fun so far, learning a new scheme and working with Coach Stubler,” says Lemon. “I just try to play within the scheme of the defence and come out and make plays.”

Calgary, it seems, has been blessed with top talent at both defensive end positions thanks to the likes of Sack Master Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law last year and now Lemon sliding in to Law’s position for the 2014 season.

Credit some of that success to great scouting but as defensive line coach DeVone Claybrooks knows well, it’s the attitude of the players that has made the biggest difference.

“They buy into the system and they take the game upon themselves and try to be students of the game,” says Claybrooks. “Lemon puts his time in. We do a lot of film study. We work on a lot of things technique-wise and he’s been taking the drills to the field.”

When it comes to his newest pupil, Claybrooks is excited about the potential he sees in Lemon, “You’ve got to remember, he’s only 26, so he’s got a lot more to learn. But he’s embraced the position and he does a good job of learning from (Corey) Mace and Charleston (Hughes) on how to be a pro and that’s what is making him successful.”

On the practice field, Starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell gets to see firsthand what causes opposing pivots fits during games.

Mitchell notes that the two bookends of Lemon and Hughes are masters of disruption on the snap of the ball, often causing drawing the eyes of a quarterback who is trying to focus on getting the ball to his teammates.

“As a quarterback, you don’t want don’t ever want to be looking at the D-linemen, letting them think that you’re noticing them,” says Mitchell.

“They do that to you, Shawn and Charleston attract a lot of double teams and that takes out players and opens up a lot of gaps and spaces for our guys.”

Noted by his teammates to be quite humble, Lemon exudes self-confidence in his abilities and says he knows he can be a dominant player in the CFL for a long time if he continues to stay consistent in the things he has been doing all year.

On pace statistically to have the best season in his four-year career, his efforts and dedication to honing his skills have impressed his head coach.

“He’s doing an excellent job this year,” says John Hufnagel. “Obviously, it was a long season for him last year. He’s competitive and he wanted to be on the field. He wasn’t on the field much after having an excellent training camp and pre-season for us last year. He knew coming in to this year that he had a great opportunity to win that starting defensive end spot and he done that and know is improving each and every week.”

When it comes to this week’s Labour Day rematch in Edmonton, Lemon is looking forward to adding to what statistically is shaping up to be his best career year in the CFL by continuing to harass his former team with his fellow D-linemen.

Come Saturday night at Commonwealth, keep an eye out for #Lemondrops.