February 15, 2018

Jerome Messam feels at home in Saskatchewan

When Jerome Messam spoke to the Regina media Thursday, he had just taken his dog to the veterinarian for its annual injection.

Messam is getting another shot too, albeit one of a different kind. The 32-year-old tailback has rejoined the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who previously employed him during the 2014 and ’15 CFL seasons.

A product of Brampton, Ont., Messam said during a conference call that he chose to sign as a free agent with the Roughriders on Wednesday after also receiving overtures from the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“Honestly, (Saskatchewan) just felt like home to me,” he said. “I didn’t want to go start with another organization. I was there in Regina and I felt at home.

“I didn’t want to leave (in 2015); it was a situation where I had no control in it. I just thought it would be nice to get back and be a part of what’s building over there.”

Messam was a four-year CFL veteran when he first joined the Roughriders. The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder previously had had stints with the B.C. Lions (2010), Edmonton Eskimos (2011-12) and Montreal Alouettes (2013) before signing with Saskatchewan in July of 2014.

He played in 29 games for the Roughriders, rushing 205 times for 1,208 yards and three touchdowns. But on Oct. 14, 2015, Saskatchewan sent Messam and a fifth-round pick in the 2016 draft to the Calgary Stampeders for kicker Tyler Crapigna and a third-rounder in 2016.

“I was shocked,” Messam recalled. “I didn’t see it coming at all. But that’s just the business. Funny how things work out that I get a chance to come back, though.”

It’s also somewhat funny that a player traded away by a team would be interested in returning to that club in free agency.

“Personally, I feel like there’s a lot of unfinished business,” Messam explained. “I was having a good year as far as running the ball (with 826 yards in 15 games), but the team was not having as much success (2-13-0 when he was traded).

“We lost a lot of close games, games we should have won. It was tough. We had coaching changes (with head coach Corey Chamblin being fired). A lot of things went wrong that year, so it’ll be nice to get back there and right the wrongs.”

Messam added 180 yards rushing in two regular-season games with Calgary that season, giving him the second 1,000-yard rushing campaign to that point of his career. He’d go on to turn the trick twice more (in 2016, when he was named the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian, and 2017) with the Stampeders.

But before the free-agency period began Tuesday, the Stamps told Messam they wouldn’t be signing him to an extension prior to the deadline. He was advised to test the market but to call the Stampeders if he didn’t like the offers he received from other teams.

“I was really unsure about how they were going to do the ratio,” Messam said of the Stamps, who also used Americans Roy Finch and Terry Williams at tailback last season. “For (Calgary) to give me an opportunity to go shop myself around and be in a different scenario, it was OK for me.”

Messam said he doesn’t harbour any ill will toward the Stampeders for letting him walk. He also doesn’t derive any motivation from Calgary’s decision to go with younger American tailbacks.

His main goal remains to win a CFL title.

“That’s what I’m doing it for,” Messam said. “I’m doing it for the love of the game and I still want to be a champion.

“As far as (Calgary) wanting to go younger and switching the ratio, it’s just a business. You’ve got to understand that. It’s football; it’s a physical game. There’s a bunch of young talent that’s always clipping at your heels ready to take your job. I don’t feel that happened (in 2017) because (Finch and Williams) would have beaten me out throughout the season.

“I think I can still be at the top of the league as far as rushing, touchdowns and production, so I’m out to prove that.”

He’s also eager to prove that he still has tread on the tires.

There’s a common belief in football that a running back’s best-before date is his 30th birthday. Messam has had three 1,000-yard seasons since hitting that age — and he doesn’t plan to slow down.

“It’s all about your mindset, how you approach your training and maintaining what you’ve built throughout the season,” he said. “As far as the physical aspect goes, I’m still feeling like I’m 25.

“With the mental aspect, I put so much more time in as far as my film study and understanding the game and understanding defences. I feel like it makes me that much more productive and ahead of the curve when I’m on the field.”

Messam joins a Roughriders backfield that already features international tailbacks Cameron Marshall, Trent Richardson and Marcus Thigpen. How Saskatchewan plans to deploy its backs remains to be seen, but Messam can help the Roughriders with the ratio by winning the starting job.

Messam played with offensive linemen Dan Clark and Brendon LaBatte during his first go-round with the Roughriders, and he knows assistant vice-presidents of football operations Jeremy O’Day and John Murphy from his days in Saskatchewan and Calgary. One thing Messam isn’t familiar with in Regina is Mosaic Stadium.

During CFL Week last March, Messam said he felt “a little bit of jealousy” about the Roughriders’ new home, mainly because he had been in Saskatchewan when the plans for the stadium were being formulated but then was traded.

Now he’ll get to experience the place for himself.

“I’m excited to get in the facility and learn my way around,” Messam said. “I’m excited to be in the meeting rooms and in the weight room, to be in that atmosphere and really just enjoy coming to work every day.”