Oregon alumni Masoli, Addison suit up for first game together as Redblacks

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When the Redblacks flew out to Calgary on Wednesday, they finally had their Ducks in a row.

Now whether or not they were sitting beside each other on the charter is beside the point, the fact that both Jeremiah Masoli and Bralon Addison were on board and are about to be reunited in Thursday night’s showdown with the Stampeders should be a plus for Ottawa.

It will be their first game together since they were members of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for two seasons — in 2018, when Masoli threw for 5,209 yards and 28 touchdowns, while being named the CFL East’s most outstanding player, and in 2019, when Addison had 95 catches for 1,236 yards and seven touchdowns.

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Both also spent their college careers with the Oregon Ducks, Masoli in 2008-2009 and Addison from 2012-2015.

“Since I got in the league, back in 2018 when I was a little rookie and came over to Hamilton, he kind of got my career going, and it just kind of built from there,” said Addison, who is coming off the injured list to replace rookie Kalil (The Thrill) Pimpleton (dislocated finger) on the Redblacks roster. “We didn’t play at Oregon together, but who knows, maybe it was a little magical Oregon chemistry.

“He’s just been a guy throughout my career, if you pull up my highlights, he’s probably throwing the ball to me. He’s a guy I’m very comfortable with and he’s a guy that most of the wideouts will be comfortable with. He’s a guy that makes plays and, when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best.”

Masoli, who is starting his first game since a ruptured Achilles tendon ended his 2023 season 13 months ago, has become increasingly sharper since Sunday, when he was given first-team practice reps and named the Ottawa starter in place of Dru Brown (ankle).

How that translates into the game remains to be seen. 

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Injuries have not only limited him to just five starts in two seasons with the Redblacks, but also just 22 games since his award-winning campaign five years ago.

“(I) almost feel like a rookie with a lot of experience,” said the 35-year-old, who will be appearing in his 116th game as a pro.  “I’ve obviously been in the CFL, and know how the games go, but I’m still looking forward to that first hit just just to get back into the football mindset of things, the physical nature of the game. Not really too worried, just because I put in so much work to get here, like my team has surrounded me with people set me up for success.”

Like Justin Hardy, Dominique Rhymes, Jaelon Acklin, Ryquell Armstead and Addison, who in six games this season has caught 16 passes for 168 yards while also showing his diversity as a running back with 15 carries for 90 yards.

“My favourite player growing up was Percy Harvin,” Addison said of the former Minnesota Viking, Seattle Seahawk and Buffalo Bill who, in 75 games between 2009 and 2016, had 4,026 receiving yards and 927 rushing hards. “Most of his career he kind of bounced back and forth. I kind of modelled my game after him. When I was a kid, my dad always told me that you’ve got to be able to do whatever they need. I played running back when I was younger, then I switched to quarterback, then I switched to receiver. But I think those skills that my dad kind of helped me hone, and watching Percy Harvin so much, the running back type of stuff that I can do it just never left.”

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Meanwhile, having his strongest practice day of the week on Tuesday, the last full practice day, has given Masoli some confidence heading into Calgary.

“We have high expectations here, so we do expect to execute,” said Masoli. “But you get to that level of execution in the game by doing it every day in practice, and building on that trust with each other, from the line to the quarterback to the receivers to the running backs. Just building that trust with each other is what it’s about during the week, and then going out there with that confidence to win.”

The other new face the Ottawa offence will have is centre Eric (Ziggy) Starczala, who gets his first CFL start after six years spent mostly on practice rosters.

He’ll be able to lean on the veteran guards beside him, Drew Desjarlais and Dariusz Bladek.

“Just giving them confidence and supporting what he’s doing out there,” Bladek said when asked how he can help Ziggy. “Echoing the calls and working together. It was a quick change (from Cyrille Hogan-Saindon to Starczala), but Eric is smart, so really, just echoing what he’s calling and giving them the confidence by his side.”

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The offensive line had a rough one last week, giving up five sacks against a hungry Saskatchewan front seven.

“It was a well fought game, a game that I thought that we should have still came out on top of,” said Bladek. “I felt like the fight across the line was really good. I think we were both truly hungry for that game. There was just a few mistakes that you couldn’t really make out for points that were lost, and we didn’t capitalize on some finishing drives. I think that if we just had, like, one or two plays that we’re not sitting here in a tie game.”

Bladek also believes that Ottawa’s 33-6 home win over Calgary on July 26 should not give either team a psychological edge on Thursday.

“Each week is its own monster,” he said. “Each week we should come in whether we beat a team by 30 points or we tied them, it doesn’t matter. We got to attack each and every game like it’s our last, like, ‘That team is coming in here to kick our a–,’ and that’s the nature of the sport. So I don’t look at it as what we’ve previously done. It’s what we have to do, not what we did.”

This one is a big game for both Ottawa (5-2-1) and Calgary (4-5-0).

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The Redblacks are listed as 3.5-point underdogs despite sitting No. 3 in the Amsoil Power Rankings and riding a four-game unbeaten streak, while the Stamps are No. 8 and are coming off a 39-25 road loss to the Argos.

A win would give the second-place Redblacks a three-point cushion on the Argos, who are on a bye this week.

Ottawa is 1-2 on the road while Calgary is 4-0 at McMahon Stadium.

“That group is a very good team at home,” said head coach Bob Dyce. “They’re going to come out fired up, the trip in Toronto, they’re probably not very happy about, and they want to continue their success at home. So I know coach (Dave) Dickenson will have them excited and ready to play in front of their home fans.”

GOING DEEP

Other roster changes for the Redblacks include Brandon Dandridge coming in to take over the boundary cornerback spot with Deandre Lamont moving to field-side half. Dawson Pierre replaces Lucas Cormier on special teams.

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