Rob Vanstone: Saskatchewan Roughriders and Cody Fajardo celebrating one year together
Valentine's Day marks the first anniversary of quarterback Cody Fajardo signing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
by Rob VanstoneThe Saskatchewan Roughriders are celebrating the first anniversary of a sweetheart deal that was consummated on Valentine’s Day.
Their courtship of free-agent quarterback Cody Fajardo reached a successful conclusion on Feb. 14, 2019, which turned out to be a pivotal day for the Green and White.
But it took a while for Fajardo to win over the hearts and minds of Roughriders fans, who largely ignored his signing when it was announced.
That puts Fajardo in esteemed company, when you consider that three legendary Roughriders quarterbacks — Ron Lancaster, Kent Austin and Darian Durant — joined the team with little or no fanfare.
In fact, Kerry Joseph is the only one of four Grey Cup-winning starting quarterbacks in Roughriders history whose arrival in Regina created a buzz.
On April 12, 2006, then-Roughriders general manager Roy Shivers swung a deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to acquire the first overall selection in the Ottawa Renegades dispersal draft.
Shivers then spent that pick on Joseph, who one year later was named the CFL’s most outstanding player shortly before quarterbacking Saskatchewan to a 23-19 Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Roughriders’ third-string quarterback for the 2007 Grey Cup game — someone who did not play a down all season — was No. 14, Darian Durant.
Durant was a seeming throw-in in the Joseph deal. As part of that transaction, the Roughriders and Tiger-Cats swapped negotiation-list quarterbacks. Hamilton obtained the rights to Reggie Ball. Saskatchewan added Durant, whom the Tiger-Cats had obtained in the Renegades negotiation-list dispersal draft.
Durant did not start a game for Saskatchewan until Week 3 of the 2008 season. It was quite the auspicious debut for the former University of North Carolina Tar Heels star, who threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns — including the first major scored by future Saskatchewan standout Weston Dressler — in a 33-28, come-from-behind victory over the host Tiger-Cats.
Ivor Wynne Stadium was also the site of an impressive debut by Austin, who guided Saskatchewan to a 23-20 victory over Hamilton on Oct. 11, 1987.
Austin’s arrival had been reported at the bottom of Page 2 of the Regina Leader-Post’s sports section on Sept. 18, 1987.
At the end of an article about the Roughriders’ roster changes for a game against the Edmonton Eskimos, Nick Miliokas wrote: “In other developments yesterday, the Roughriders brought another quarterback to town. He is Kent Austin, who played at Mississippi and was taken by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 12th round of the 1986 NFL draft. He was cut by the Cardinals a short time ago.”
Austin became front-page news on Nov. 26, 1989, when he threw for 474 yards and three TDs to pilot Saskatchewan to a 43-40 Grey Cup victory over Hamilton.
Precisely 23 years earlier, Lancaster had been the victorious pivot as Saskatchewan downed the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14 at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
In 1963, though, The Little General was not greeted by a brass band. His acquisition from Ottawa for the low, low price of $500 did warrant a headline — Roughriders acquire another import pivot — but the L-P story did not foreshadow greatness.
John Robertson wrote that head coach Bob Shaw “said that the latest purchase by no means indicated that he is displeased with the work of (M.C.) Reynolds, who joined the club last weekend.”
Reynolds was one of six quarterbacks who auditioned for the Roughriders in 1963, the others being Lancaster, Lee Grosscup, Larry Cline, Bob Ptacek and Frank Tripucka.
Durant was also part of a quarterback carousel — one that spun out of control in 2008, when Steven Jyles, Michael Bishop and Marcus Crandell also called signals for Saskatchewan.
But there wasn’t any uncertainty on Nov. 24, 2013, when Durant (wearing his familiar No. 4) threw for three scores as the Roughriders posted a 45-23 championship-game win over Hamilton on Taylor Field.
With the CFL’s marquee event once again ticketed for Regina, Fajardo would love to join the ultra-exclusive fraternity of Roughriders Grey Cup-winning quarterbacks.
He already has the requisite credentials, considering that he — like Austin — was an afterthought in a Page 2 sports story.
“Backup and short-yardage quarterback Cody Fajardo has signed a one-year deal with the Riders,” Murray McCormick reported. “Fajardo, 26, spent the 2018 season with the B.C. Lions. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Toronto Argonauts.”
End of Cody Fajardo reference.
Who knew that Valentine’s Day 2019 was the beginning of a beautiful relationship?