Anticipation is growing for this week’s Saskatchewan Roughriders both for the fans and the new starting quarterback.
Mason Fine will get his first career start this Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders in a near must-win game for the team.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m excited to go out there and be the best player I can be for this team and hopefully put our offence in a great position to be successful,” Fine said Friday before the game.
The 25-year-old was born in Locust Grove, Oklahoma before playing college ball at North Texas. Growing up, Fine said he was initially trained by his father, who had never played football at any level.
“About my fifth-grade year, I talked to my dad and I didn’t really know anything about football but I wanted to be a quarterback,” Fine said. “So we went to this University of Oklahoma camp and Josh Heupel was there speaking. I had no idea what I was doing, so I just remember writing down the notes of what he said, printing it and putting it on my wall. Every day my dad and I played catch in the yard.”
Some have raised concerns about Fine’s size, standing at five-foot-10. He says it’s fuelled doubts throughout his football career.
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“I keep saying your O-linemen are all six-foot-five and six-foot-six anyways,” Fine said. “You don’t see over them, you see through passing lanes.”
Saturday won’t be the first time Fine has been brought in to provide a spark. Earlier this season in a game at home against the B.C Lions, Cody Fajardo was pulled just minutes into the second quarter. Fine instantly provided a jolt to the offence when he drove the length of the field and scored a touchdown.
The rest of the night, however, was more of the same for the Riders as Fine struggled to put points on the board.
With Fajardo having been benched following the Riders’ losing streak, Fine will need to lead the team to a victory if they want any chance at making the playoffs. With only two games left, they will need to win more games than the Hamilton Tiger-Cats do in their final two games.
“The veteran players especially have spoken up and they understand that it’s do-or-die for this team,” head coach Craig Dickenson said. “We still feel like we got a good football team, we just gotta win a couple, get a little bit of momentum and we think we can make a difference.”
As for Fine, while he is excited for his first CFL start, he also realizes the opportunity comes at the expense of his friend Fajardo.
“It’s a difficult circumstance and both sides, me and Cody, have discussed the situation openly from my perspective and from his perspective,” Fine said. “You can be frustrated, but you can also support another friend and teammate at the same time. And that’s kind of what we’ve been doing.”
The Riders kickoff from Mosaic at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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