There was a time last year when the typically rudimentary process of walking was an accomplishment for Jermarcus Hardrick.

Now he is in the running for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award.

Having rebounded from a quad injury that limited his 2024 season to 4 1/2 games, Hardrick has been a fortress at right tackle while helping the 2025 Saskatchewan Roughriders register the league’s best record.

“Last year when I got hurt and I tried to walk off the field and I couldn’t walk off the field and I broke down, it was very emotional,” Hardrick recalled on Wednesday after the Roughriders’ nominees for the CFL Player Awards were announced.

“Greg (Mayer, Head Athletic Therapist) told me, ‘You’re going to be back on the field next year,’ and I didn’t believe it.

“Last year, I was going through the rehab part and I started crying and I ran out of the treatment room. Greg came and found me, had some good words for me, and got me back in there. I thank Greg all the time for that.

“I had to learn how to walk again. I had to learn how to squat again. That was probably the hardest thing I’ve been through in a while.

“It was more mental than anything and I didn’t do it alone, so thanks, everyone.”

Hardrick and the Roughriders were off to a scorching start in 2024 when he was injured on July 13 in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions, who are to provide the opposition on Saturday (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).

Saskatchewan had a 4-0 record in games Hardrick started and finished last year. He was as advertised after signing with the Roughriders as a high-profile free agent on Feb. 13, 2024.

The previous November, as a seventh-year member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he had been named the West Division’s top offensive lineman.

This time around, Hardrick is up against Stanley Bryant (Winnipeg), Jarell Broxton (B.C.), David Beard (Edmonton Elks) and Zack Williams (Calgary Stampeders) for West honours.

Brandon Revenberg (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), Peter Nicastro (Toronto Argonauts), Dino Boyd (Ottawa REDBLACKS) and Justin Lawrence (Montreal Alouettes) are the East Division nominees.

Hardrick has to be considered one of the front-runners for the league award after helping the Roughriders go 12-4 in the 16 games he has started.

Following seven of those contests, Saskatchewan’s offensive line received the highest rating of the week from Pro Football Focus. Hardrick had the highest player grade among his offensive line cohorts in each of those seven games.

“Yoshi doesn’t need an introduction to this league and he’s not one who wants pats on the back, but I made sure I went up and congratulated him,” said quarterback Trevor Harris, who was recognized on Wednesday as the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Player.

“With what he went through with his leg and fighting back — not only getting back and being able to play, but to play at the level he’s been at — he’s been awesome.”

Not to mention humble.

His first reaction to the news he had won the award: “Logan didn’t get it?”

Roughriders centre Logan Ferland, who has enjoyed another superlative season, was the West’s top offensive lineman a year ago.

“I’ve been in this place before and I’m proud, but not satisfied,” Hardrick said. “We’ve got a great group.”

Hardrick is one of the key players who shapes the collective mindset. More than a decade into professional football, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound genial giant carries himself with the enthusiasm of a wide-eyed rookie.

“That’s one thing I hope never leaves,” he said. “My wife said I need to grow up. I’m always excited and running around.

“I’m sometimes not the best person to celebrate with. I’ve tackled a couple of guys. I’ve put a couple of guys in a headlock. When 30,000 people in the crowd are going crazy, I’ve got to hit something.

“I love the game. I think that’s one of the things that’s going to keep me playing until somebody tells me to go home. I love the game and I’m always running around.

“I got it taken away from me last year. I thought I really loved it but seeing people last year and not being able to be a part of it, I said, ‘When I do go back, I don’t know how the product’s going to look, but I’m going to have the most fun I’ve ever had.’ ”

Which is saying something, considering Hardrick’s lifelong love affair with a sport that is his passion as well as his vocation.

“Football exposed me to the world,” reflected the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers grad, who hails from Batesville, Miss.

“It gave me a chance to see North America and see Canada. It gave me a chance to get out of my small town and go to New Orleans, Nebraska, Tampa. I’ve been in Florida.

“I’m from a town of 400 and I think we’ve got a Greyhound bus now. Now I’m in Regina and football has given me that.

“I used to get in trouble in the seventh and eighth grade for chasing a ball, because they were waiting for me to get back to the huddle. I’m 35 years old and I still do it.”