‘I’m a human being at the heart’: Fajardo gets emotional discussing 2021 season

The strain of the 2021 CFL season on Cody Fajardo became evident Monday.

During the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ final media availability of the season at Mosaic Stadium, Fajardo was asked what it means to him to be the team’s starting quarterback.

“It’s everything, and uh …,” he began before pausing, his voice cracking. “(It’s) tough at times when you’re not winning (and) when you’re not playing well, but … There has been a lot of hard times in my life throughout my football career. I just go out there and give it everything I have. I lay it all on the line.

“I know I’m probably not the most talented guy when it comes to being a quarterback and things just come to me, but I wouldn’t want to play for any other team (or) any other organization. They’ve been incredibly great for me and my family, my support.

“It’s just tough when people call for your head when you do everything you can for this team. If it was a perfect world, I wish I could play my best every game and win every game. But it’s professional football. Those guys get paid on the other side as well.”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers dashed the Roughriders’ Grey Cup hopes Sunday, downing the visitors 21-17 in the West Division final. Winnipeg advanced to the CFL’s championship game, Sunday in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats.

It was the third straight post-season the Bombers’ ended Saskatchewan’s season, following victories over the Roughriders in the West semifinal in 2018 and the division final in 2019.

Fajardo completed 19 of 27 pass attempts for 265 yards and a touchdown Sunday at IG Field, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Roughriders past the Bombers.

A day later, he reflected on what it’s like to be the starter in Saskatchewan and, as a result, a lightning rod.

“It can be mentally tough sometimes,” he said. “That’s why you see me breaking down here. I’m a human being at the heart and it’s just tough sometimes going through a whole year. You give everything you have and people don’t see that or people don’t give you the respect.

“But you’ve got to draw to the people who are closest to you and you’ve got to draw to your teammates. I’m the type of guy who’s really positive, likes to keep people upright and happy, but there were some dark days throughout the season when we were winning games and people still found ways to talk bad about our offence and talk bad about me. That’s tough.”

Fajardo pointed to social media, where he tries to interact with fans as often as he can. Instead, he said people said “disgusting things” about him and his family on at least one platform.

Even so, Fajardo said he’ll try to be “the positive light that I’ve tried to be all along” — and he wants to keep doing it in Saskatchewan.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said. “I’m blessed to play football for money and to be the starting quarterback for this team (for) two years …

“I don’t know how many more games I have, but however many I do have left, I’m going to give it everything I have because (the) Grey Cup is the ultimate mindset. That’s my goal and that’s what’s going to motivate me.

“Losing back-to-back West finals is going to motivate me for the 2022 season.”

Head coach Craig Dickenson wasn’t surprised to see Fajardo’s emotions bubble to the surface during Monday’s session with the media.

“The thing you see when you see stuff like that is you can see how much he cares,” Dickenson said. “He really cares about this team. He cares about doing the best he can for his teammates and giving them the best he has got and I think it wore on him a little bit this year.

“We need to try to do as much as we can as an organization to take pressure off of Cody, to help him realize, ‘You’re one of 12. You’re an important one, but you’re still one of 12.’

“But I know he really cares about doing well. He wants to please people, he wants people to be proud of him and to feel like he’s an accountable guy and a leader and a guy that they can count on to play well.”

Centre Dan Clark held himself accountable for the offensive line’s play during the season, suggesting he as the leader could have done more.

The veteran also said losing to Winnipeg again in the post-season is “three years of a bad taste in our mouth.”

“(It) literally should drive you to do whatever you can,” he said. “Whatever opportunity you have to be able to put in the gym, whatever opportunity you have to be able to put in fieldwork, whatever opportunity you have to be able to put in with a coach in this organization to make our team better to have that opportunity to hoist the Grey Cup in Regina is what your No. 1 goal should be.

“But you also look at it: The biggest thing that I (took out) of that game was being able to FaceTime my wife and kids to be able to take me out of the mood that I was in.”

The Roughriders will take the off-season to reflect before returning for the 2022 season. The Grey Cup is to be played at Mosaic Stadium in Regina next season.

If the Roughriders are to be in that game, Dickenson said changes will be required.

“We need to be better,” he said. “We didn’t have good luck (this season), but we’ve got to get better. Jeremy (O’Day, the general manager) and I will sit down and visit and discuss how we feel like we can get better (and) where we need to get better.”

— With files by 980 CJME’s Dom Lucyk and Jamie Nye