It was the worst kind of déjà vu for Jeremiah Masoli.
365 days to the exact date of the first, the 34-year-old quarterback suffered what appears to be another significant injury. He was moving out of the pocket during the second quarter against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 5 and went down to the turf without contact.
“Knowing what that was, you saw a little bit of air out of both sides,” Ticats’ head coach Orlondo Steinauer said. “That’s a credit to him and the amount of respect that he has throughout the league or specifically with these two teams.”
“Jeremiah is one of my favourite people in the world. I just hope he’s OK because he loves this. He’s the ultimate competitor, he’s a great human being and he loves his teammates. Who knows if he was even supposed to be out there, but Jeremiah’s heart — he’s in it for real,” linebacker Simoni Lawrence said.
Masoli spent eight seasons of his career with the Black and Gold, including two with Steinauer as the team’s bench boss. Saturday was the first time he played his former team after Hamilton chose to move forward with Dane Evans following an overtime loss in the 2021 Grey Cup and Masoli signed a free-agent contract with the Redblacks.
“I’ve got so much love for Jeremiah. For him, his family and everything that he’s been through. What he contributed to the organization, not just as a football player but as a person in the community,” Steinauer said. “You look forward to competing and injuries are a part of the game. Not a great thing. I think the league’s better with Jeremiah in it.”
In Ottawa’s fourth game of the season in 2022, then-Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman Garrett Marino put a low hit on Masoli that drew a suspension and ended the veteran quarterback’s year with a broken femur, among other injury issues caused by the targeted shot.
Masoli sustained a non-contact torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee in Week 7 during the 2019 season. That ended his year and he was able to return healthy for the 2021 campaign. He had his best season in 2018 with the Tiger-Cats, throwing for 5,209 yards with 28 touchdowns versus 18 interceptions while running 63 times for 473 yards and two touchdowns on the way to being named the East Division Most Outstanding Player.
The five-foot-ten, 218-pound QB has completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 16,638 yards with 82 touchdowns and 53 interceptions plus 263 carries for 1,546 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and 20 majors on the ground over the course of his decade-long CFL career.
