During his early days with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Chris Getzlaf earned Chris Jones’ respect.
That only grew during Getzlaf’s final season with the CFL team.
“From the time that we first went against each other in all those Calgary-Saskatchewan games, I really respected him as a player,” said Jones, then the Stampeders’ defensive co-ordinator and now the Roughriders’ head coach and GM. “As a person, after being around him for the time that we were around each other (in 2017), I respect him even more now.
“I’m glad that he was able to finish up on his own accord and finish up as a Rider, which is what he should be doing. It’s kind of a storybook-type ending, the way things should end.”
Getzlaf, a 34-year-old product of Regina, announced his retirement from the CFL on Thursday. The receiver spent 11 seasons in the league, playing 119 of his 147 career regular-season games with the Roughriders.
He began his CFL career in 2007 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who had selected him in the fifth round (33rd overall) of the ’07 draft out of the University of Regina. In August of that year, he was traded to the Roughriders — and he spent the next nine seasons with the Green and White.
Getzlaf joined the Edmonton Eskimos prior to the 2016 season and played 26 games with them before being released in late September of 2017. Jones signed Getzlaf and added him to the Roughriders’ practice roster in mid-October before activating the veteran for the East Division semifinal.
That turned out to be Getzlaf’s last game with the Roughriders, for whom he caught 368 career regular-season passes (fifth-most in franchise history) for 5,694 yards (fifth) and 37 touchdowns (sixth).
“(Playing in Saskatchewan) meant the world …” Getzlaf said during a media conference at Mosaic Stadium. “It was a chance to come home and obviously eventually spark a long career.
“To be able to play in front of friends and family and the great fans of Saskatchewan is obviously something that I’m never going to forget but something that I completely enjoyed the entire time.”
Getzlaf said he had a good idea at the end of the 2017 season that he was going to retire in the off-season, but he spent a couple of months weighing his options. In the end, he decided to hang up his cleats to concentrate on his career as a financial planner.
Getzlaf may have been at peace with his decision, but his voice still cracked as he discussed his retirement plans with the media on Thursday. After thanking people from the three CFL organizations for which he played and after paying tribute to his friends and family members, Getzlaf choked up while thanking his ex-teammates.
A number of current and former Roughriders — including Dan Clark, Weston Dressler, Brendon LaBatte, Mike McCullough, Scott McHenry and Paul Woldu — listened as Getzlaf said that the interaction with his teammates is the thing he’ll miss the most.
Now he has to find something to replace that, as well as the adrenaline rush of playing a sport at a high level. Recreational activities and seeing players who still live in Regina should help.
“I get my fix seeing friends, reminiscing and just having good times,” Getzlaf said. “I’m not too worried about replacing that at the moment.
“It hasn’t crossed my mind too many times. I’m sure come training camp and the season, I’ll have a few mixed emotions regarding that, but for the most part, I feel very satisfied with my decision.”
Getzlaf played in eight career playoff games as well as three Grey Cup games (2009, 2010 and 2013) with the Roughriders. He won a CFL title while on Saskatchewan’s practice roster in 2007 before playing an integral part in the Roughriders’ win on home field in the 2013 championship game.
After catching three passes for 78 yards in Saskatchewan’s 45-23 victory over the Tiger-Cats, Getzlaf was named the most valuable Canadian in the 2013 title game.
During his career, he also was named a West Division all-star in 2012 and ’13 and was the Roughriders’ nominee for the award as the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian in 2011 and ’13.
“As an American coming up to Canada and learning the Canadian game, listening to the Canadian guys like Getzlaf who know a lot about it really helped me,” said Dressler, who began his CFL career with Saskatchewan in 2008. “That was one thing I took from Getz early on in my career.
“Even later on, watching him play the game and the way the ran his routes, the way he did things on the field, it was very unique at times but very effective. Trying to adapt some of those things was not easy to do, just because of the way he does it. He’s a special player.”
Getzlaf’s football career also included stops in Regina Minor Football, in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League (with the Usher Unicorns), in the PFC (with the Regina Thunder) and in Canada West (with the U of R Rams).
As his CFL career played out, he also made a point to contribute off the field.
He tried to use football as a platform to give back to the community, whether it was helping the Red Cross spread its anti-bullying message across the province or helping spay and neuter pets at a clinic in Mexico. In 2013, Getzlaf received the Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award.
On Thursday, he said goodbye to his career as a football player — and to being a Roughrider.
“It allowed me to accomplish many things in my life that I had set for myself,” Getzlaf said of being a member of the Green and White. “To be able to do it at home in front of friends and family and Rider Nation is just icing on the cake.”
