{"id":873573,"date":"2026-08-27T17:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/873573\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T17:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:34:15","slug":"bridges-already-knows-the-path-to-the-end-zone-in-his-new-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/873573\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridges already knows the path to the end zone in his new home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shemar Bridges\u2019 first CFL touchdown was witnessed by Trevor Harris and several of the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 quarterback\u2019s friends and family members.<\/p>\n

But they weren\u2019t ecstatic over the ice-breaking major, given the differing allegiances that applied at the time.<\/p>\n

Bridges hauled in a Bo Levi Mitchell aerial for a 16-yard major when the Roughriders visited the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 16, 2024.<\/p>\n

The ice-breaking major took place before 22,313 spectators \u2014 including Harris\u2019s parents (Tom and Suzanne), in-laws (Jim and Marie Denton) and several others who drove to Hamilton from Ohio to watch Trevor and his teammates play.<\/p>\n

When the teams completed a home-and-home set eight days later at Mosaic Stadium, Bridges caught a 41-yard touchdown pass for the visiting Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say that his next major will receive a warmer reception from Rider Nation.<\/p>\n

The newly signed Bridges practised with the Roughriders on Wednesday in preparation for Saturday\u2019s home game against the Toronto Argonauts.<\/a><\/p>\n

He was interviewed on Wednesday at the north end of Mosaic Stadium \u2014 not too far away from where he crossed the goal line for the first time as a visiting CFLer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember hushing the crowd because of how loud it was,\u201d Bridges said with a laugh<\/a>. \u201cI remember being in this stadium. It was my first year here and I was like, \u2018Wow. It\u2019s crazy out here.\u2019 That was kind of like my first taste of the CFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told my mom, \u2018This is one of my favourite places to play,\u2019 so it\u2019s a full-circle moment, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges, who scored half of his touchdowns against Saskatchewan in 2024, was named the East Division\u2019s Most Outstanding Rookie that year. He also earned divisional All-CFL honours after catching 83 passes for 933 yards in 15 regular-season games.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4, 208-pounder played in all 18 regular-season contests last year with Hamilton, making 34 receptions for 361 yards and two majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange of position, change of role,\u201d Bridges said when asked about 2025. \u201cWe had a great player like Kenny Lawler come in. There was Tim White and Kiondre Smith. They had great players over there (in the receiving corps).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just happened. I played my role and tried to be ready for my time when it came. I think I proved to everybody that I could do that. I went from getting a lot of targets to a couple of targets, but I was still being ready and still being the same me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the biggest thing for me \u2014 showing people the type of person I am and that I can handle any type of situation I\u2019m put in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Roughriders are facing an adverse situation due to injuries that have ravaged the receiving corps.<\/p>\n

Two top-tier pass-catchers \u2014 Samuel Emilus and Kian Schaffer-Baker \u2014 are on the six-game injured list. Johnny Johnson III missed Wednesday\u2019s practice due to a head injury he sustained on Sunday against the host B.C. Lions.<\/p>\n

With the depth being tested, the arrival of a proven receiver such as Bridges<\/a> is most timely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re glad he\u2019s here,\u201d Harris said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be a great receiver to add to the mix for us. I know our coaches will do a great job of highlighting what he does well, which is quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

A highlight for Bridges is an opportunity to work with Harris after collaborating with another legendary passer \u2014 Mitchell \u2014 in Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cBo is like a brother to me,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cHis daughters are like my nieces. His family is like family to me. I love him to death.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe reached out to me as soon as the news hit (about joining the Roughriders). He made sure to put in a good work for me. I\u2019m always thankful for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrevor\u2019s a great dude as well, so I\u2019m blessed to be able to play with those two guys, who have had Hall of Fame-type careers and won championships and done great things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just keep my head down to work, stay humble, work every day, and be the same person. I think that\u2019s why I earned respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, very soon, thunderous applause from the same crowd he once silenced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shemar Bridges\u2019 first CFL touchdown was witnessed by Trevor Harris and several of the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 quarterback\u2019s friends…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-873573","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\/873573","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=873573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}