When Jermarcus Hardrick was selling high-end automobiles for a living, he never suspected that the wheels were in motion for the resumption of his athletic career.
“I thought I was done with football,” Hardrick, who has long been one of the CFL’s premier offensive linemen, reflected after practising with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday.
“It was over. I wasn’t even working out or anything. Then I got that call.”
That call was regarding interest from the B.C. Lions, who will provide the opposition when the Roughriders return to action on Sunday in Vancouver.
“I showed up there on a Tuesday and I was on the practice squad,” Hardrick said. “On the Friday, they told me I was playing.”
His games-played total has since swelled to 168 — something he could not have imagined at one point in 2014.
At the time, the Roughriders were the defending Grey Cup champions, as they are now. In addition to helping Saskatchewan win a championship in 2025, Hardrick was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman.
“I didn’t do it alone,” he said. “I got a lot of help along the way, so I appreciate everyone.”
That is the perspective of someone who spent time with two NFL teams (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints) and one Arena Football League club (the Utah Blaze) after graduating from the renowned University of Nebraska Cornhuskers program.
After his one AFL season, he had pretty much written off football.
“(Arena football) wasn’t working out for me and my young family, so I started selling cars,” Hardrick said. “I was doing that for about a year.
“Then I got a call, telling me that I was on B.C.’s negotiation list. I asked my agent, ‘What is that?’ I got a passport and away we went.”
During the hiatus from football, Hardrick was selling luxury automobiles at Markel BMW in Omaha, Nebraska.
“I was selling some Jaguars, some BMWs, some Range Rovers, some MINI Coopers,” he said. “It was all in one place.
“My college teammate’s dad owned the dealership. The first couple of months, I was selling ’Husker football. I was like, ‘Hey, do you like Nebraska football?’
“It went from there. Then I got into it and I started learning the cars and I got a lot better.”
As much as he appreciated the opportunity presented by the dealership, he jumped at an unexpected chance to play professional football.
He ended up appearing in 12 games — starting 10 of them — with the 2014 Lions, only to be released on April 29 of the following year.
Undaunted, Hardrick returned to the AFL and spent two games with the Tampa Bay Storm before signing with Saskatchewan on June 18, 2015.
He was soon released, but resurfaced on the practice roster on Aug. 20 — 11 years to the day before the interview was conducted for this feature.
Hardrick started eight games for the 2015 Roughriders. In the team’s regular-season finale, he demonstrated his versatility by catching a pass from Brett Smith for a 10-yard gain. Two plays after Hardrick was tackled on the nine-yard line, Smith threw a TD pass to Weston Dressler in what turned out to be the popular pass-catcher’s final game in green and white.
Dressler was released by the Roughriders on Jan. 15, 2016. He signed with Winnipeg 11 days later and spent three seasons with the Blue Bombers.
Hardrick and Dressler were reunited on Feb. 17, 2016, when the towering tackle also joined the Blue Bombers.
He quickly became a mainstay at right tackle, earning All-CFL recognition as a Blue Bomber in 2021 and 2023. Also in 2023, he was named the West Division’s top offensive lineman.
A series of banner seasons made Hardrick a top-tier free agent. Upon the expiration of his final contract with Winnipeg, he signed with Saskatchewan on Feb. 13, 2024.
Since then, the Roughriders have a 24-10 record with Hardrick in the lineup.
At 36 — more than a decade removed from his introduction to the CFL — he is still among the very best … and among the most grateful.
“I’ll never take anything for granted,” Hardrick said.
“After being cut from the NFL, being cut in the CFL, and not playing football for a year, this is everything.”