FAJARDO SIGNS EXTENTION
Star QB commits through 2022
Cody Fajardo is proficient at signing autographs — as evidenced by the three signatures that he has so graciously provided for Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Jeremy O'day.
Fajardo initially signed with the CFL team as a free agent on Feb. 14, 2019, when a one-year deal was announced with minimal fanfare.
Presented with a long-awaited opportunity to become a starting quarterback in professional football, he emerged as such a sensation that a contract extension was warranted. The lengthened pact, announced on Oct. 21, 2019, carried through the 2021 season. Then came Tuesday, when Fajardo extended the extension — one that obligates him to the Green and White through 2022.
“I feel like we've been negotiating more than we've been playing football,” Fajardo quipped Tuesday from his home in Reno, Nev.
Fajardo certainly hasn't been playing hardball, given his amenability to repeatedly re-signing with the Roughriders.
The latest announcement was a tonic for Roughriders loyalists, who have not been able to watch their beloved team since Nov. 17, 2019 — when the West Division final was played at Mosaic Stadium.
Although the Roughriders lost 20-13 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who eventually won the Grey Cup, the season as a whole was a success from a Saskatchewan standpoint.
Fajardo helped the Roughriders post a 13-5 record and finish first in the West's regular-season standings. Additionally, he was named a CFL all-star and the West's most outstanding player.
He is also one of the league's most upstanding players, considering the rapport he enjoys with the fans.
“That's part of the reason why I wanted to sign the extension — being able to play for the Roughriders,” Fajardo said.
"I talked about going to the grocery store to buy two things and being there for 45 minutes to an hour. With how much a lot of the fans have reached out to me and my family during a year of no football, it truly showed to me how much all the fans can't wait to have football again.
"I talked about it earlier in the year when everybody was opting out of their contracts and how I'm committed to my contract because I love playing in Saskatchewan and I want to be here as long as the team wants me to be here, because there's nothing like going out to practice and seeing fans in the stands, going to dinner, and talking to kids who were pretending to be me in the backyard.
“Those are the little things that I'm going to remember for the rest of my life — not the touchdowns at the end of the game or the two-minute drives. It's going to be those little things that truly make you feel like you have a purpose in playing football.”
Now, if only the Roughriders can get back to playing football.
Training camp is to begin in May. The regular-season opener is scheduled for June 12. But, as we know all too well, COVID-19 makes the rules and sets the agenda.
Ultimately, the availability and efficacy of the vaccine will deter
mine if, or when, a 2021 season commences.
In the meantime, and in between time, an injection of good news — the best possible player-related development, considering the importance of a marquee quarterback — is something the Roughriders and their legion of supporters can celebrate.