![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/McFadden2-800x540.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt was late in the first quarter of last Friday\u2019s game in Regina. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had taken the ball at their own 40-yard line after a Lirim Hajrullahu field goal had given the Toronto Argonauts a 10-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Quarterback Trevor Harris had led the unbeaten Riders down the field and was looking at a first-and-goal from the Argos 5-yard line. They were in a double tight-end set with a receiver moving to the backfield to create an offset I-formation. It left one receiver split wide to each side.<\/p>\n
Harris looked to his right, where Samuel Emilus was covered man-to-man by Toronto\u2019s Tarvarus McFadden. One step into the end zone, Emilus tried to sell a corner route, then cut to the inside. What the Riders didn\u2019t expect was that McFadden read the play perfectly, cut in front of the receiver, and intercepted the ball, the first time Harris had thrown a pick in almost 200 passes.<\/p>\n
The Argos would take over, with the ensuing drive resulting in a field goal. The potential 10-7 lead had instead become 13-0 thanks to McFadden\u2019s big play, the second time is as many weeks that the Argos held their opponents pointless in a first-and-goal situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just man coverage,\u201d McFadden recalled for Argonauts.ca. \u201cI just had to hold my leverage. I saw him try to fight for his leverage, so I knew that the ball could possibly be coming there. I just wanted to be ready and aware when it did happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
McFadden attributed the play to heavy doses of film study. He had mentally filed that Saskatchewan likes to run a lot of in routes and it helped him anticipate the play call. The pick sparked a post-pick celebration with his teammates joining him in raising their left arm in the air and pointing to their left wrist where a watch would be.<\/p>\n
It was to acknowledge the play was made by \u201cT-Time,\u201d McFadden\u2019s long-time nickname.<\/p>\n
The moniker goes back to his youth football days in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He was constantly making big plays, so he was compared to Deion \u201cPrime Time\u201d Sanders, who played at Florida State, the school at which McFadden would eventually become a star.<\/p>\n
So instead of \u201cPrime Time,\u201d Tarvarus became \u201cT-Time.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/McFadden1-800x538.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
In his sophomore year with the Seminoles, McFadden won the Jack Tatum Award as the best defensive back in the NCAA, mainly based on his eight interceptions that season. After taking a shot at the NFL, McFadden landed in Toronto and has been around long enough to be considered a veteran leader and mentor, a role the field corner embraces.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really cool,\u201d McFadden replied when asked how he accepts that responsibility. \u201cThis is my sixth year now, but I\u2019ve always felt like I\u2019ve had a leadership role, even when I was a younger guy. So now, it\u2019s just passing along the information to them. We\u2019ve got a bunch of rookies who can really play some football, so we\u2019re just trying to make sure they\u2019re in the best position possible to make plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
McFadden is working with a new positional coach this season, Jovon Johnson, who is in his first season coaching pro football. Johnson knows a thing or three about the position, as he was the first defensive back to be named the CFL\u2019s Most Outstanding Defensive Player, an award he won with Winnipeg in 2011.<\/p>\n
He appreciates what his veteran cornerback brings to the group.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/McFadden4-800x528.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cHis value is sky high, through the roof,\u201d Johnson told Argonauts.ca. \u201cHe comes from a really good program in college, so he knows the game inside and out. His ability to process things from different spots on the field, from corner or halfback, makes him valuable to the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
How so?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe holds other guys accountable, which is great,\u201d Johnson explained. \u201cWhen he plays with consistent technique, he\u2019s a force to be reckoned with, he makes plays like the one everybody saw in the last game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Argo defence is starting to put things together, though there is a lot of work to be done. McFadden chuckled when asked how good the defence can eventually be.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot more to do,\u201d he admitted. \u201cWe can get a lot better and that\u2019s the crazy thing. We want to bring down the average total points against (currently 31.7, fifth in the league), so that\u2019s the focus. Then, turnovers, we want to lead the league in turnovers (tied for first with Edmonton with 10).\u201d<\/p>\n
The next test for McFadden and company is on Thursday night when the Double Blue visit Calgary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was late in the first quarter of last Friday\u2019s game in Regina. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had taken…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-771583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}