Riders' Mason Fine grateful for shot with the green and white
Being the fourth option on the Riders quarterback depth chart isn’t an easy place to be, but Mason Fine is grateful for the chance to play professional football.
“To be able to have an opportunity to come up here and play professional football and get paid to play a sport you love, I mean, you can’t ask for much more,” Fine said after practice on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old signed with the Riders in Dec. 2020, inking his name to his first professional contract.
Fine has always been an underdog. After graduating from Locust Grove Highschool in Oklahoma as the all-time Oklahoma record holder for passing yards down touchdowns, Fine didn’t have a single post-secondary scholarship offer.
After eventually finding a spot on the roster at North Texas, he finished his NCAA Division 1 career as the school’s all-time leader in seven categories, including 300 yard games and leading passer with 12,505 yards. Then, he wasn’t drafted by any NFL football teams.
The reason given for his recruitment shortcomings: his height. At 5’11”, he needed to leverage other qualities.
“The best thing about a quarterback being small, they’ve been small generally their whole life,” said Riders’ offensive coordinator Jason Maas. “They didn’t start 6’5 and shrink, so he’s just accustom to playing a certain way.”
Maas said Fine impressed the Riders’ coaching staff in camp with his ability to get out of tough situations.
“When we put him in pressure-packed situations he always seemed to find a way,” Maas said.
Cody Fajardo is listed as 6’2, backup Isaac Harker is 6’0 and third stringer Paxton Lynch is a towering 6’7. Fine knows he has to work harder than his teammates.
“Being in the film room. Knowing the playbook. Studying defense and just throwing the football. Trying to be as accurate as possible,” Fine said.
Maas, who has been coaching in the CFL since 2012, said he believes the rookie’s accuracy is superb.
“He throws one of the best balls I’ve ever been around. He can spin it like not many guys can. He can throw it all over the place,” Maas said.
While Fine is trying to learn what he can about the Canadian football game, he’s also trying to educate his teammates on his own background.
“I’m a very proud to be Cherokee,” Fine said. “I belong to the Cherokee tribe there in North Eastern Oklahoma.”
Fine said that growing up, he idolized Oklahoma product and Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford. The former NFL quarterback is also part Cherokee. Knowing how much of an impact role models can have, Fine wants to make a difference in his community after his football career is over.
“I have such a passion to try to get into tribal government and law and give back to my community,” Fine said.
Fine said he had to educate himself on his background when his teammates inquired about his ancestry. Now, he’s proud to share his history with new green and white teammates, like starting pivot Fajardo.
“I’m not as educated, I wish I was, so there was a lot of questions that I asked him,” Fajardo said. “What’s going on here, or can you explain this to me?”
“Here’s someone I look up to as in Cody, as in somebody who has been mentoring me and it means a lot,” Fine said. “That’s the whole focus of bringing awareness.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Police: 3 killed, including suspected gunman, in Minneapolis shooting
Three people, including the suspected gunman, are dead after a shooting Thursday at a Minneapolis apartment complex, police said.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
$400K in damages for B.C. woman who had unnecessary mastectomy was 'inordinately high,' court finds
A jury's award of $400,000 to a woman who had a mastectomy after being misdiagnosed with breast cancer has been substantially reduced by B.C.'s highest court, which found the damages were "wholly disproportionate."