REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders are playing their annual Christmas in July game Friday evening against the Edmonton Elks and it’s safe to say Langenburg native Noah Zerr received a pretty nice gift in advance of the contest.
With starting left guard Zack Fry sidelined due to a concussion -- more on that later -- Zerr found out earlier this week that he’ll be making his first start of the season on the offensive line when the Riders and Elks take the field at Mosaic Stadium.
It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the fourth-year Canadian Football League veteran, who was out of football entirely in mid-May but now finds himself returning to the starting line-up in front of what promises to be a loud hometown crowd on Friday night.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Zerr said when asked by voice of the Roughriders Dave Thomas if his first start of the 2025 season was an early Christmas present. “It's always a gift to get back on the field and to have some fun with the fellows. It's definitely a blessing in my life and feels like Christmas has come early. I've been waiting for this opportunity and hungry to go prove myself.”
Zerr was released by the Riders on May 14 during training camp, but only six days later was re-signed. He was on the practice roster until Week 6, when the constant string of offensive line injuries saw him slot in as an offensive line back-up. Now, with Fry sidelined, it’s his time to roll.
The Roughriders have continued to find success despite their o-line injury carousel, in no small part due to what Zerr feels is a serious next-man-up mentality.
“We have a room that stays ready. We're happy for each other's successes and we're happy for the guys that are up each week,” Zerr said. “But I think everybody in the room is kind of dying to get on the field, show what they have and show what they bring to the table and that's how I feel. I'm happy to see our guys go and play every week and to be that sixth man, but I'm also happy to get back in the lineup and show the league what I got.”
While Zerr didn’t have long to wait before joining the team after his release, he had planned to stay ready as long as possible in case something happened and his services were once again needed.
“I think the CFL is a blessing, it's the funnest job in the world and it can get taken from you at any time,” Zerr explained. “That's something I understood pretty young in the league. But at the same time, it's one of those things that you know you got to stick with."
"If it's your dream to play pro football, you got to keep working, you got to stay ready and you never know when your next opportunity is going to come, whether it's with the same team or a new team. You keep yourself in the best possible shape to do what you need to do and good things happen, that's how you stay better.”
As is often the case, one player’s opportunity is another’s loss, and Riders' head coach Corey Mace offered an explanation as to what happened to Fry -- as it turns out, he’d been in a motor vehicle accident earlier in the week, and had concussion symptoms show up at practice.
“He got checked out at the hospital here, everything was good and we were cleared,” Mace explained. “Then, like some injuries to the head, at practice he wasn’t feeling exactly how he should. We’re not going to play around with that kind of stuff… he’ll be fine, but you don’t want to risk that.”
Having Zerr ready to jump into battle full time after backing up the last two weeks has worked well for the team.
“It’s been a seamless transition,” Mace said after admitting releasing Zerr was a hard decision given how highly the team thought of him. “He’s waiting for his opportunities, he’s been on the roster up and down, he started some games for us last year so it’s not like he’s fresh and never done it before. He’s excited for this opportunity, I know it means a lot to him to put this helmet on. It’s an opportunity for him to go out there and play with some conviction.”
Fortunately for Zerr, acting as the sixth man on the offensive line the last couple weeks has given him a game-ready mentality, he aims to put that to good use with quickness on Friday night.
“Being the sixth man, you never know when you're going to be thrown into the mix and the team's going to have to count on you to be that starter,” he explained. “I think every week, I try and really prepare like I'm going to start. But this week especially, we knew that we had some bang ups here and some bang ups there and we weren't sure what shape guys were going to be in. I was definitely staying a little bit more ready, a little bit more locked in, especially with the defensive front coming in with Edmonton.”
One thing that’s for certain is Zerr will have no shortage of support from Roughrider fans as a home-province product -- especially from friends and family in Langenburg nearby Yorkton.
“I'm sure we'll have people here, staked out in bars and staked out at home, making sure that they're not missing the game,” Zerr said. “But to all those fans and all those people back home, old coaches and old teammates, love all you guys and I appreciate all your continuing support.”
Things get underway Friday with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk, and Wes Cates on the pre-game show at 4 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 7 p.m. You can hear our coverage live on radio and streaming on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
