on Sunday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/a><\/p>\nWhat does that nice round number signify?<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from age, I would say it\u2019s a blessing,\u201d replied Harris, 40, who hails from Waldo, Ohio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very thankful for this country, this league, and how it has helped me develop as a man. I told my wife, \u2018Football has taught me so much as a human. It has helped me grow as a person and a child of God.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of games. Actually, I didn\u2019t know that (the 200th game is imminent), so it\u2019s wild.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris was a member of the Toronto Argonauts on June 30, 2012, when he made his first CFL appearance. The Argonauts\u2019 Head Coach at the time was Scott Milanovich, who will be the visiting team\u2019s field boss on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The first time Harris dressed for a home game \u2014\u00a0his second CFL contest overall \u2014 it was against a Calgary Stampeders team that included defensive tackle Corey Mace.<\/p>\n
At the time, Harris was the Argonauts\u2019 third-string quarterback, behind veterans Ricky Ray and Jarious Jackson.<\/p>\n
With Ray injured, Jackson started against the visiting Roughriders on Oct. 8, 2010. With Saskatchewan enjoying a commanding lead late in the game, Milanovich called upon Harris to lead the offence. His first CFL completion \u2014\u00a0to Andre Durie for a three-yard gain \u2014 soon followed.<\/p>\n
Harris threw only 19 passes during his first season of three-down football. In fact, he didn\u2019t receive consistent playing time until 2015, at age 29.<\/p>\n
Here he is, 11 years later, with 3,202 completions (ninth on the CFL\u2019s All-Time list). He is 12th in passing yards (39,115), 14th in aerial touchdowns (214), 15th in attempts (4,505) and a close second in completion percentage (71.08).<\/p>\n
Harris is the reigning Grey Cup MVP as his 200th CFL game nears.<\/p>\n
With 10 TD passes for the 3-1 Roughriders, he is one of only three players in franchise history to throw for multiple scores in each of the first four games of a season. The others are Henry Burris (2000) and Darian Durant (2013).<\/p>\n
Burris and Harris were teammates with the Grey Cup-winning Ottawa REDBLACKS in 2016. Smilin\u2019 Hank was 41 when he retired after that season, with 274 games to his good name and a Grey Cup MVP trophy to show for a Hollywood-ending farewell appearance.<\/p>\n
Harris, too, is at the top of his game in his early 40s as he prepares to become only the second quarterback to play for Saskatchewan in his 200th game. Ron Lancaster, in 1973, was the first.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it speaks to his work ethic in anything that he\u2019s ever done,\u201d Mace, the Roughriders\u2019 third-year Head Coach, said of Harris. \u201cIt\u2019s not shocking that he\u2019s turning the page on 200 games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting to the first game was one of the biggest challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven teams in two years,\u201d Harris reflected. \u201cI tried to quit playing and become an offensive co-ordinator at my alma mater. I never thought it would turn into this, but I\u2019m really, really thankful.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be standing here at this juncture in my life with the blessings I have, all praise be to Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Effective on Sunday at 5 p.m., Harris will become one of only 18 individuals to play for Saskatchewan in his 200th CFL game.<\/p>\n
The exclusive fraternity includes current Roughriders Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O\u2019Day \u2014 like Harris, an alumnus of Edinboro University in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Day played in 238 CFL regular-season games, the last 202 of which were with Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
In O\u2019Day\u2019s case, the 200 milestone was achieved on Oct. 19, 2008, when he helped the Roughriders defeat the visiting Tiger-Cats 30-29.<\/p>\n
The day before, Harris had thrown a school-record-tying five touchdown passes as Edinboro defeated Slippery Rock 35-14.<\/p>\n
Aside from Harris, O\u2019Day and Lancaster, the following players were employed by the Roughriders for Game No. 200: Bill Clarke (1964), Reg Whitehouse (1964), Ron Atchison (1966), George Reed (1975), Lawrie Skolrood (1987), Roger Aldag (1988), Dave Ridgway (1993), Mike Anderson (1995), Ray Elgaard (1995), Dan Rashovich (1996), Don Narcisse (1999), Gene Makowsky (2006), Eddie Davis (2007), Chris Szarka (2009) and Charleston Hughes (2022).<\/p>\n
Clearly, 200 games is a feat for the elite.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that we\u2019ll celebrate,\u201d Mace said, \u201cand hopefully we do it as a team after a win.\u201d<\/p>\n
WELCOME BACK, JAKE!<\/p>\n
Jake Dolegala is poised to become the 37th former Roughriders quarterback to throw a pass against the Green and White in the post-Second World War era.<\/p>\n
Dolegala, a Roughrider in 2022 and 2023, is to call signals for the Tiger-Cats on Sunday.<\/p>\n
There is also a Hamilton connection to the five erstwhile Roughriders quarterbacks who have played against Saskatchewan most frequently:<\/p>\n
34 \u2014 Henry Burris (Tiger-Cats, 2012 and 2013).<\/p>\n
27 \u2014\u00a0Kevin Glenn (2009 to 2011).<\/p>\n
17 \u2014\u00a0Zach Collaros (2014 to 2017)<\/p>\n
14 \u2014 Tom Clements (1979, 1981, 1982).<\/p>\n
11 \u2014 Vernon Adams Jr. (acquired by Hamilton on Feb. 2, 2018; released by the Tiger-Cats on June 21 of that year).<\/p>\n
The rest of the lengthy list, Dolegala included, consists of \u2026<\/p>\n
10 \u2014\u00a0Kerry Joseph; Drew Tate.<\/p>\n
9 \u2014 Jim Kemp.<\/p>\n
8 \u2014 Kerwin Bell; Tom Burgess.<\/p>\n
7 \u2014 John Hufnagel.<\/p>\n
6 \u2014\u00a0Rick Cassata; Joe Paopao; Drew Willy.<\/p>\n
5 \u2014\u00a0Kent Austin; Steven Jyles.<\/p>\n
4 \u2014 Joe Barnes.<\/p>\n
2 \u2014 Michael Bishop; Rocky Butler; Darian Durant; Cody Fajardo; Kevin Mason; Reggie Slack.<\/p>\n
1 \u2014 Joe (747) Adams; Don Allard; Jake Dolegala; Al Dorow; Homer Jordan; Jake Maier; Randy Mattingly; Fred McNair; Mike Nott; Bob Pearce; Keith Price; Bernard Quarles; Tom Rozantz; Ted White.<\/p>\n
If the depth charts do not change, Saskatchewan will play against one of its former quarterbacks in six consecutive games.<\/p>\n
Dolegala follows Maier, who started against Saskatchewan when it visited Ottawa on July 3.<\/p>\n
After Sunday, the Roughriders will play a home-and-home set against Fajardo and the Edmonton Elks. Saskatchewan then opposes Ottawa (see again: Maier) and Hamilton (Dolegala).<\/p>\n
Dolegala will be the third ex-Roughrider to play quarterback against Saskatchewan in a span of four games. Adams Jr. and the Stampeders played host to the Roughriders on June 20, six days before Saskatchewan faced Chad Kelly and the Argonauts.<\/p>\n
Rewinding a mere 113 years, our favourite team played against one of its former quarterbacks for the first time when the Moose Jaw Robin Hoods visited Dominion Park to oppose the Regina Rugby Club on Oct. 11, 1913.<\/p>\n
Billy Ecclestone started at quarterback for Moose Jaw. His opposite number, Fred Ritter, was the RRC\u2019s player\/coach.<\/p>\n
Ritter also was in charge for the team\u2019s inaugural season. On Oct. 8, 1910, Ecclestone quarterbacked the Regina side against the Moose Jaw Tigers. The game, played at Dominion Park, was the first home appearance in the long history of a franchise that has been known as the Roughriders since 1924.<\/p>\n
Regina\u2019s Value Village is now located at the former Dominion Park site.<\/p>\n
BOB PTACEK (1937-2026)<\/p>\n
Bob Ptacek, who was 89 when he passed away on June 29, was a unique Roughrider from two perspectives:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Along with starting at quarterback for Saskatchewan in 34 games, he was a Western Conference All-Star at two other positions \u2014 linebacker (1961) and defensive back (1964).<\/p>\n
\u2022 He joined the Green and White as part of a rare NFL-CFL transaction.<\/p>\n
Ptacek became a Roughrider on May 20, 1960, when he was acquired from the Cleveland Browns for defensive lineman Jim Marshall.<\/p>\n
In Ptacek\u2019s first start with the Roughriders, he completed 19 of 28 passes for 231 yards against Calgary at Taylor Field on Aug. 12, 1960. He rallied the Roughriders from a 15-1 deficit, directing two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. His 25-yard TD pass to Bob Renn with 1:08 remaining preceded a Reg Whitehouse convert that produced a 15-15 tie \u2014\u00a0a score that held up for the duration.<\/p>\n
Ptacek tied a Roughriders single-game record on Sept. 26 of that year by throwing four TD passes in a 45-35 home-field victory over Calgary. Glenn Dobbs had previously accomplished the feat three times (twice in 1951; once in 1953).<\/p>\n
(Austin set the current record of six TD passes on Sept. 21, 1991 in B.C. He also boasts two of the nine five-TD-pass games in Roughriders history.)<\/p>\n
Also of note was Ptacek\u2019s 104-yard TD pass to Ray Purdin on Oct. 15, 1962 in Hamilton. That was the longest completion in Roughriders history until Austin collaborated with Jeff Fairholm for a 107-yard score against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 2, 1990.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Ptacek\u2019s playing career was cut short by back-to-back Achilles tendon injuries, sustained in 1965 and 1966.<\/p>\n
The former University of Michigan Wolverines standout thrived in his post-football endeavours, enjoying a long and successful career in transportation sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you retire?\u201d I inquired during a 2020 interview for a Regina Leader-Post feature on Ptacek and Marshall.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably about 10 minutes from now,\u201d Ptacek joked over the phone from Dayton, Ohio. \u201cIt just keeps me current and not sleeping all day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get up. I work from my telephone. I make calls on people and take people out to dinner and out to lunch, just in the Dayton area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still viable. I\u2019m at the Y at 5 o\u2019clock every morning, lifting (weights) a little bit and exercising and trying to stay in shape.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re 83, you\u2019re just thankful you open your eyes every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
How\u2019s this for an eye-opening accomplishment? Ptacek is one of 14 individuals to have been named the Roughriders\u2019 MOP more than once.<\/p>\n
Lancaster and Reed were honoured six times. Austin was a three-time MOP.<\/p>\n
Ptacek, Durant, Fajardo, Ken Carpenter, Weston Dressler, Corey Holmes, Kenton Keith, Ken McEachern, Mike Saunders, Frank Tripucka and Joey Walters were honoured twice.<\/p>\n
ROLL CREDITS \u2026<\/p>\n
\u2022 Nice people who deserve a plug: Donna Ptacek, Jillian Baldwin, Murray McDonald, Tommy Stevens, A.J. Ouellette, Joelle Hydaman, Gene Smith, DaMarcus Fields, April Green, Norm Fong, Jake Dolegala, Benny Green and Virginia Wilkinson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trevor Harris won\u2019t even have to throw a pass to reach his next impressive milestone. Simply setting foot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-795442","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\/795442","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=795442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}