Tuesday 6 August 2019

Who is this guy? – Will Fajardo become the CFL’s Warner?

QB Cody Fajardo has impressed as the Roughriders starter.
    Could Cody Fajardo be living out a football story that was famously seen once before?
    The Brea, Calif., product has experienced a meteoric rise since becoming the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Fajardo’s chance came after spending about two and a half seasons as a reserve quarterback in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts and British Columbia Lions.
    Before joining the Argos in October of 2015, Fajardo attended training camp with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders before being cut.
    His attempt to make the Raiders came after wrapping up a star career with the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Football Team in the top tier of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks in 2014.
    Joining the Roughriders this season, Fajardo was pegged to be a reserve quarterback.
    When the Roughriders opened their regular season on June 13 against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton, Saskatchewan’s starting quarterback Zach Collaros was knocked out of the game with a concussion injury. Collaros made a feet first slide and was hit in the head by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence on the fourth overall play of the contest.
    Since that moment, Fajardo, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 215 pounds, became the Roughriders main man under centre. The 27-year-old has completed 132 of 177 passes for 1,705 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions over the team’s first seven games.
Cody Fajardo fires a pass from behind protection.
    He has surpassed 300 yards in passing three times and has the Roughriders riding a three-game winning streak to sit with a 4-3 record heading into a Friday showdown with the Alouettes (3-3) in Montreal (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).
    Thanks to Fajardo’s play, the Roughriders traded Collaros to the Toronto Argonauts last Wednesday for a conditional fourth round selection in the 2020 CFL Draft.
    Last Thursday, Fajardo left Rider Nation in adulation running in from five yards out to score the winning touchdown with 24 second remaining in the fourth quarter to deliver the Roughriders to a 24-19 victory over the Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium.
    In that contest, Fajardo completed 25-of-31 passes for 313 yards and ran the ball nine times for 56 yards, which included his winning touchdown run.
    His right ankle was sore after taking a sack early in the third quarter, but he said in post-game interviews that he was able to continue thanks to “a sprinkle of Jesus.”
    He celebrated the win eating a corn dog at the Queen City Ex next to the statue of George Reed outside Mosaic Stadium. Fajardo posted the picture of that moment on Twitter.
    A practicing Catholic who is strong in his Christian faith, the phrase “a sprinkle of Jesus” is starting to become a catch phrase for Fajardo.

    The rise of the likable and personable signal caller has parallels to the rise of a legendary NFL pivot.
    Way back on Aug. 28, 1999, the St. Louis Rams were playing a pre-season game at home, when they lost starting quarterback Trent Green to a season ending knee injury on a hit from San Diego Chargers safety Rodney Harrison.
    Green tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments and also sustained cartilage damage in his left knee.
The SI cover from when Kurt Warner made his rise.
    Rams head coach Dick Vermeil, who was known for being ultra-optimistic, said his team would rally around backup quarterback Kurt Warner and play good football.
    At that time, the Rams were trying end a streak where they had posted nine straight losing seasons. Pretty much no one knew who Warner was, and there wasn’t much hope outside of the Rams organization that they would have a good season.
    Warner, who stood 6-foot-2 and weighed 214 pounds, became an NFL starter at age 28. All of a sudden, Warner shocked the league.
    He stormed out of the gates in 1999 leading the Rams to a 6-0 start completing 118-of-162 passes for 1,531 yards, 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.
    The sad sack Rams morphed into “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
    Warner kept putting up crazy passing numbers finishing the campaign completing 325-of-499 passes for 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He led what was arguably the most exciting offence in the history of pro football that seemingly could score a touchdown on any play from any point on the field.
    Warner let the ball fly to talented receivers Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl. For a change up, Warner could hand the ball off or toss it to dynamic running back Marshall Faulk.
    The Rams posted a 13-3 record to finish first overall in the NFC, and Warner was named the NFL’s MVP. From there, the Rams marched on to win Super Bowl XXXIV on Jan. 30, 2000.
The SI cover of the St. Louis Rams’ Super Bowl win.
    In Super Bowl XXXIV, Warner hit Bruce on a 73-yard touchdown bomb with 1:54 to play in the fourth quarter that broke a 16-16 tie and gave the Rams a 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
    Warner, who was born in Burlington, Iowa, was named MVP of the Super Bowl having completed 24-of-45 passes for 414 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
    During that fairytale season, Warner’s back story came out. After playing for the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Warner was cut by the Green Bay Packers in the summer of 1994.
    He returned to Cedar Falls and worked out at his old college practice field by day and stocked shelves at a local Hy-Vee grocery store at night. Warner played three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League from 1995 to 1997, one season in NFL Europe in early 1998 with the Amsterdam Admirals before joining the Rams for the 1998 NFL season as their third string quarterback.
    The 1999 NFL season wasn’t the only high point in Warner’s career. The Christian gunslinger guided the Rams back to Super Bowl XXXVI following the 2001 season, where they fell 20-17 to quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
    Warner played for the New York Giants in 2004 before finishing his NFL career playing for the Arizona Cardinals from 2005 to 2009. He gunned the Cardinals into the Super Bowl XLIII following the 2008 season, where they fell 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Kurt Warner had a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
    Over his career in the NFL, Warner established a reputation as being personable and likeable. During stints where he wasn’t the starting quarterback on the teams he played for, he was eager to be the best and most supportive teammate on the squad he was on.
    In his 12 NFL seasons, Warner completed 2,666-of-4,070 passes for 32,344 yards, 208 touchdowns and 128 interceptions in regular season play. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
    With that noted, Fajardo has a long way to go if he does have a career even in the CFL that matches what Warner did in the NFL. At the moment, Fajardo is a better scrambler than Warner was but is not at a Pro Football Hall of Fame level when it comes to controlling the game from the pocket.
    Still, the early part of Fajardo’s career as the Roughriders starter does have a lot of similarities to Warner’s beginning as a starter with the Rams.
    This might be a blessed season for Fajardo and the Roughriders.
    The season could still go south for Fajardo and the Roughriders, when they finally play the likes of the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos. The Stampeders have been the year in and year out powerhouse since 2008 in the CFL.
    Still, the Roughriders and their Rider Nation fanbase can dream. Fajardo will put in the work.
The Roughriders hope to enjoy more victory scenes like this.
    He might put together a success story that no one saw coming that goes beyond anyone’s imagination.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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