After 100-plus years, the Riders finally have a namesake on the active roster.
Ryder Varga is to make his debut with the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders when they oppose the Edmonton Elks in a CFL West Division marquee matchup on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.
Shortly after 5 p.m., Varga will formally become one of 2,173 game participants in the history of the Roughriders and the Regina Rugby Club — but the first player with a phonetic connection to the team’s nickname.
In fact, the Regina-born linebacker became the Riders’ first Ryder/Rider the moment he signed a two-year contract with the team on May 6.
Until this past spring, a Ryder/Rider had not had any previous contractual connection to the team team, which now has an All-Time roster of 4,871 when you factor in training-camp invitees, practice-roster players, and the like.
“The name is spelled a little bit different (than ‘Riders’) but it’s cool,” Varga said. “Everybody makes that joke: ‘Hey, you know you’re a Ryder for the Riders, right?’
“I realize that, but it’s pretty cool to be the first one.”
Did Brad and Connie Varga attach the Ryder name to one of their two sons because of the football connection?
“I want to say yes for everybody, but it’s really not,” Ryder said with a laugh. “It would be really cool if it was. Maybe I’ll get my parents to go back and readjust the reason they named me Ryder.”
So how, then, did it come to be?
“Did you ever see the moving truck?” Ryder responded. “There’s a moving company — Ryder — and they saw the name on a truck and thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’
“My brother’s name is Hunter. They thought Hunter and Ryder was a good mix.”
Ryder Varga will soon be on the move — via a WestJet aircraft — in preparation for his first game with the Green and White after being activated on Friday morning from the six-game injured list.
He has not played in a game since suffering a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament while playing for the Toronto Argonauts against the visiting Elks on Sept. 13 of last year.
Released by the Argonauts on April 29 — one day shy of his 27th birthday — he soon signed with Saskatchewan.
“It feels like forever ago that I got hurt,” the former LeBoldus Golden Suns and University of Regina Rams standout said. “To (return) for the hometown team is really exciting.”
A Roughriders uniform is a natural fit for someone who once wore green and white strictly as a fan.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “As a kid, I remember being at old Mosaic watching games. I’ve played here on the enemy team and thought, ‘That’s really loud.’
“It’s really nice to have them on my side this time.”
He experienced the other end of the spectrum on June 27, 2023, when he returned an interception 11 yards for a B.C. Lions touchdown in a pre-season game at Mosaic Stadium.
“That was really exciting,” Varga recalled. “Mason Fine tried to throw a little hitch route and I picked it off.
“I remember guys were giving me the finger in the stands over there. Hopefully they don’t give me the finger now that I’m playing for them.”
Perhaps the learned football fans of Saskatchewan were signalling for the Lions to attempt a one-point convert following the Varga TD.
Regardless, it can now be declared without equivocation that Varga is in friendlier territory. That became obvious the moment he signed with Saskatchewan.
“My mom started crying,” he said. “I was really excited, too. Everyone was really happy for me, because they always selfishly wanted me to stay here.
“You can’t really be a beggar when you’re trying to go through the Draft process. You’re just trying to get taken.”
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Varga was selected by B.C. in the third round (29th overall) of the 2022 CFL Canadian Draft. He eventually rejoined the Rams and capped his final year of college eligibility by being named Canada West’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
He spent the next two seasons with B.C. before being traded to Toronto in January of 2025. He registered 10 special teams tackles in 13 games with the Argonauts before suffering the knee injury.
“It’s like a very, very lonely road, getting injured,” the nephew of former Regina Pats star and 1980-81 WHL scoring champion Brian Varga said. “You’re by yourself for long days. The light at the end of the tunnel has got to be worth it for you.
“For me, it’s a chance to play in the CFL for the home team. That made it all worth it.”
