Roughriders draft pick Terrell Jana ready to work

Terrell Jana believes the journey is just as important as the destination.

The 22-year-old receiver, who was recently selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders 17th overall in the 2021 CFL Draft, is looking forward to starting his professional football career after playing four seasons with the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

“I’m excited,” he said from Charlottesville, Va., where he is finishing up his degree in Leadership and Public Policy. “I’ve heard nothing but great things about Saskatchewan, especially the fan base, the team and the culture.”

Growing up in Surrey, B.C., Jana is no stranger to putting in hard work to achieve success. However, he learned that the hard way during his first year of college, finishing his first year with just two receptions.

“After my first season, I learned I wasted that whole semester,” he said. “I wasn’t going to bed on time, I wasn’t getting up on time, I wasn’t putting the extra work in. I realized that whole semester kind of came and went, and opportunities came and went.

“I decided after that I don’t want those opportunities to go past me again. That next spring, I bought in to what the coach was telling me. I bought in to what the older guys were doing.”

That spring, Jana would regularly get up at 4:40 a.m. to workout on his own ahead of the team’s scheduled workout. However, in his sophomore year, the hard work didn’t translate right away, as he continued to see limited catches early on.

“I was talking to my coach one day and I kind of broke down to him and said ‘coach, I can’t do anymore, I can’t give anymore,’” said Jana. “He explained to me that it’s not going to come right away. The process is testing you right now. If you give up now, then it’s all for nothing, but if you keep pushing, it will come to fruition.”

And it did. Jana went on to rack up 123 catches in his four years at Virginia, good enough for 12^th on the schools all-time receptions list, proof that hard work can pay off.

“I appreciate the process and how hard it is and how much you need to give to it to finally get something back and that’s something I’m willing to commit to,” he said.

As he begins his pro career in the CFL, Jana is now hoping to translate that mentality back on home soil, while hoping to emulate a player he grew up watching games at B.C. place, former Lions receiver Geroy Simon, who also played one year in Saskatchewan in 2013.

“I admire him as a person, as a player and the career he had is amazing,” said Jana. “If I can tap into an ounce of what he did on the field, it would be a success for me.”

And if Jana’s mentality and work ethic remains the same in his professional career, it’s likely that success will follow.

“Football has given me so much,” he said. “It has taken me to some amazing schools. I’m getting an amazing degree.

“It’s given me so much that I am committed to giving everything I got to this sport for as long as I can.”