Cody Fajardo is soaking up the nostalgia ahead of his first start in Saskatchewan as an opposing quarterback, but he’s not expecting gameday to be quite so warm and fuzzy.
The 33-year-old signal-caller was named the Edmonton Elks’ starter on Thursday after supplanting Canadian Tre Ford in practice, setting the stage for a much-anticipated return to Mosaic Stadium. He has matched up with the Roughriders three times since being run out of town at the end of the 2022 season, but has never been able to play due to injury.
This time will be different, and Rider Nation will respond accordingly.
“They did a pretty cool tribute for me when I was here with Montreal, so that, obviously, was warming for me. There’ll be some Fajardo jerseys, I think, in the stands, and I think there’ll be some people wearing Fajardo jerseys that will be booing me, which will be pretty interesting,” the quarterback joked after arriving in Regina.
“I think there might be a couple of cheers, but at the end of the day, I’m fully expecting some boos.”
Fajardo joined the Roughriders as an unheralded backup in 2019, but was quickly thrust into the starting job due to an injury to Zach Collaros. He led the CFL in passing that first season by throwing for 4,302 yards, 18 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, rushing for another 611 yards and 10 majors. He was named a finalist for Most Outstanding Player, as the Riders made it to the West Final.
That early success made the Brea, Cal. native an instant sensation across the province, boosted by his “sprinkle of Jesus” persona. However, the shine quickly faded, as Fajardo saw his production dip and the Riders slowly declined over his next two campaigns. After a 2022 season in which they lost seven straight to miss the playoffs, he was unceremoniously shown the door.
That led Fajardo to the Alouettes, where he was named Grey Cup MVP the very next season. Looking back, his success was forged in the Saskatchewan crucible.
“I’ll say this about my time in Sask, I learned a lot,” he said. “I learned a lot about being a professional quarterback. I learned a lot about being the head of a franchise, the face of a franchise, getting media put in your face after losing a tough game or winning a game, and just how to carry yourself. I have learned a lot of experience being here, and I don’t think my career trajectory would have been what it was if it wasn’t for my time here in Saskatchewan.”
Media coverage and fan reactions weren’t always kind towards Fajardo towards the end of his tenure in Regina, and he was vocal about the negative impact that social media had on his mental health at the time. He looks back on that adversity as a lesson, helping to construct the “f*** you, just watch” mentality that he infamously embraced a year later.
“I would tell younger Cody, ‘Just see through the storm.’ There was some great days, there were some dark days with my time here, but I wanted nothing more than to win a Cup for this fan base and the first franchise to give me the franchise tag,” he recalled. “It’s crazy when you work so hard for something and then you come up empty, it just leaves that empty feeling in your heart.”
Despite the adversity he faced, Fajardo acknowledges he still has a “soft spot” for Saskatchewan as the place where his career took off and his son was born. Friday will be a special return, though the three-year wait has softened some of the impact.
It remains to be seen if either time away or the context of his departure will pacify the fan reaction to his return to Mosaic. Head coach Corey Mace didn’t overlap with Fajardo in Saskatchewan, but recalls the animosity that another former Riders starter, Henry Burris, experienced during his returns, and hopes for a similar reaction.
“I was there for those. Yeah, please. Bring your Christmas hats, be the Grinch; let’s do that. We want as much noise as possible, man,” Mace said excitedly, referencing the game’s Christmas in July theme.
“It was pretty entertaining, just knowing it wasn’t me. I was like, ‘Dang, Hank, what the hell did you do?’ Maybe it drove him, and for us as teammates, we just knew it was gonna be a hellacious game to come in here and play games knowing that they were going to be a little more motivated. I’m all about that; let’s do that.”
Fajardo denied having any extra motivation to beat the Riders, but if he performs well, fans may have one of their own to blame. When Montreal also made the surprise decision to move on from him this offseason, hitching their wagon to a young successor in Davis Alexander, and leaving him without a vacant starting job to fill, his first call was to Saskatchewan QB Trevor Harris.
The pair have an existing relationship from their time as backups in Toronto, and Fajardo knew the 39-year-old had been through a similar situation just a few years prior. Harris proved to be a valuable resource for guidance as he opened a new chapter in Edmonton.
“His advice was, ‘You know how the CFL goes, everything happens so fast, so take the weeks that you’re not starting as a blessing because your body’s not getting hit,'” Fajardo chuckled. “This is the best I’ve felt going into (Week 8) in the last seven years, so that’s a positive.”
“(Harris has) been in every situation possible. He’s been a starter, he’s been a backup, he’s been a third-stringer, he’s been a practice-squad guy trying to prove it. I feel the same thing from my story, I’ve been very similar in the way that we both kind of have these prove-it years, and then we become the guy, and then it’s a prove-it again, and then become the guy. There’s just a lot of things that are similar about our journeys. He’s done it a lot longer than I have, but I’ve got a lot of respect for Trevor.”
That respect is mutual, and Harris had a poignant message for his current team’s fans ahead of the reunion with the man he replaced.
“People get to boo Cody tomorrow on the field, but hopefully they can at least let him know how much they appreciate what he did for the city and town and organization as a tremendous quarterback here during his time,” he said, adding an important caveat.
“But I hope it’s not a sweet homecoming for him tomorrow. Hopefully, we can hand him an L.”
The Edmonton Elks (1-4) will kick off against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-1) at 9:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 25. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on 880 CHED in Edmonton and 620 CKRM in Regina.
