Toronto Argonauts' Bear Woods, left, chases Calgary Stampeders' Jerome Messam during second half CFL football action in Calgary, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Jerome Messam has been here before.
The 32-year-old running back signed a free-agent contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Wednesday. It’s his second stint with the CFL team; he played 14 games with the Roughriders in 2014 and 15 games in 2015 before being traded to the Calgary Stampeders for kicker Tyler Crapigna.
Messam exceeded 1,000 yards rushing in each of the past two seasons with Calgary, gaining 1,198 yards (with 11 touchdowns) in 2016 and 1,016 yards (with nine TDs) last season.
In the Stampeders’ first two games against Saskatchewan last season — both of which Calgary won — Messam rushed for 135 and 127 yards, respectively. The Roughriders held him to 43 yards in the teams’ third meeting, which Saskatchewan won.
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound product of Toronto also has played for the B.C. Lions (2010), Edmonton Eskimos (2011-12) and Montreal Alouettes (2013) in his CFL career.
Messam has rushed 1,035 times for 5,484 yards and 34 touchdowns and added 219 receptions for 1,997 yards and two TDs in 126 career regular-season games.
As a Canadian capable of starting, Messam is a ratio-breaker. He joins Cameron Marshall, Trent Richardson and Marcus Thigpen — all of whom are internationals — as the current members of Saskatchewan’s stable of running backs.
Messam is the latest of five Canadian players to sign this week with the Roughriders.
Centre Dan Clark and fullback/special-teamer Spencer Moore signed contract extensions before hitting the free-agent market, while defensive tackle Zack Evans and linebacker Sam Hurl inked free-agent contracts.
