Marcus Thigpen did some extra filmwork prior to the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ game Saturday.
“On Friday and even (Saturday) morning, I started watching some highlights from back in my Hamilton days, just to try to get that feeling back,” Thigpen said after Saskatchewan’s 28-13 CFL loss to the Edmonton Eskimos at Mosaic Stadium.
“Going out there (Saturday), I was a little emotional just to be back. I love the game so much and I’m passionate about it. To go out there and score two touchdowns, it was a great feeling.”
Thigpen obviously is feeling comfortable in Saskatchewan. On Sunday, the Roughriders announced that the 31-year-old product of Detroit — along with long-snapper Jorgen Hus — had signed a contract extension.
Thigpen’s deal will keep him with the Roughriders through the 2018 season, while Hus is signed through the 2019 campaign. Both players were eligible to become free agents in February.
Thigpen began his CFL career in October of 2009, when he joined the Roughriders’ practice roster. He returned to Saskatchewan for training camp in 2010, but was cut before the regular season when the Roughriders opted to go with Dominique Dorsey as their returner.
Thigpen subsequently signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and he went on to become a CFL star with them.
In his first regular-season game with Hamilton — a 49-29 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 2, 2010 — Thigpen returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. Later in that contest, he returned a missed field-goal try 118 yards for a TD.
In the 35 games he played over two seasons with the Tiger-Cats, the 5-foot-9, 195-pounder returned 86 kickoffs for 1,643 yards and one touchdown, 116 punts for 1,055 yards and one TD, and 11 missed field-goal attempts for 544 yards and three TDs.
Thigpen also caught 48 passes for 616 yards and three scores, and rushed 51 times for 316 yards and three majors.
He parlayed his showing in the CFL into a free-agent contract with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins — and he showed off his impressive return skills in that league as well.
In 2012, he had 38 kickoff returns for 1,040 yards and one touchdown (a 96-yarder) and 26 punt returns for 316 yards and one TD (a 72-yarder in his first game) for Miami.
But Thigpen’s NFL career ended after four seasons and he found himself out of football. His hiatus ended Sept. 12 of this year, when the Roughriders signed him.
With Christion Jones sidelined with a collarbone injury, the Roughriders needed a return man. They brought in Thigpen and, three days later, he returned three punts for 77 yards in Saskatchewan 27-19 victory in Hamilton.
But he suffered a collarbone injury in the first quarter of that game and missed the Roughriders’ next six games. With tailbacks Cameron Marshall and Trent Richardson on the shelf, Thigpen was activated for Saturday’s game and was given the start at tailback.
To say he impressed would be an understatement.
“He looked like the most dynamic player on the field, quite honestly,” Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “His level of speed looked different from others.
“It’s only a game and one quarter sample that we have to choose from,” Jones added, “but he did look like the best player on the field (Saturday).”
Thigpen rushed seven times for 32 yards and one touchdown, caught two passes for 31 yards with one TD and returned one kickoff for 53 yards.
The rushing touchdown was his first in the CFL since Nov. 13, 2011, when he scored from 50 yards out in Hamilton’s 52-44 overtime victory over the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division semifinal.
His last receiving touchdown prior to Saturday was a 32-yarder from Kevin Glenn on Sept. 25, 2011. It was one of two TD catches Thigpen had in the Tiger-Cats’ 55-36 victory over the Calgary Stampeders.
“(The game Saturday) went just as I expected,” he said. “I felt great coming in. I had a great week of preparation and practice. When my number was called, I felt like I took advantage of every opportunity I had.”
And now he has presented the Roughriders with a dilemma as they prepare for the East Division semifinal Nov. 12 against the host Ottawa Redblacks.
Marshall and/or Richardson could be back for that contest. The Roughriders also have to decide how to arrange their receiving corps if Naaman Roosevelt is ready to return from a concussion. As well, Thigpen — like Christion Jones — can handle all of the returns.
Thigpen’s showing Saturday could give the Roughriders’ coaches pause.
“It makes their decision a little harder with that guy and what he just did and all the different positions that he plays,” said Glenn who, as a long-time friend of Thigpen, played a role in getting him to Saskatchewan in September.
“I already knew he could do it. I’ve been with him before and know what type of a person he is and what type of an athlete he is. He deserves it. He’s a good guy.”
• Hus, a 28-year-old product of Saskatoon, is in his third season with the Roughriders.
The University of Regina Rams alumnus has played 45 games in his CFL career after being acquired from the Eskimos in May of 2015.
Prior to his CFL career, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Hus had NFL tryouts with the St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs.
