Kian Schaffer-Baker and Trevor Harris stepped on the same expanse of turf, on the same day, long before becoming teammates with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Harris was a member of the Toronto Argonauts when a teenaged Schaffer-Baker displayed his receiving talents at BMO Field while playing for a summer football team, the Mississauga Warriors.
“We’d play at halftime,” recalled Schaffer-Baker, 26. “I remember seeing Trevor, who was a backup to Ricky Ray at the time, and I’d be watching all those guys — like Chad Owens, Andre Durie and Maurice Mann.”
Schaffer-Baker eventually emulated Owens, Mann and Durie by becoming a successful CFL receiver and a teammate of Harris. All four players helped to fuel Schaffer-Baker’s love of the game.
“It has been instilled in me for a long time, just watching greatness like that,” he said leading up to Sunday’s Home Opener, presented by Flynn, against the visiting Hamilton Tiger Cats (5 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
The 38-years-young Harris chuckled when it was pointed out to him that Schaffer-Baker, a Roughrider since 2021, is a long-time admirer.
“Well, now we’re mutual fans of each other,” the Roughriders’ No. 7 replied. “He’s got a big fan in 7.”
The veteran quarterback’s appreciation for Schaffer-Baker was evident on June 16, when he caught two touchdown passes in a 33-30 victory over the Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field.
Harris and Schaffer-Baker combined for touchdowns of 24 yards (at 11:24 of the first quarter) and 10 yards (14:27 of the fourth quarter).
Brett Lauther converted the latter major to create a 30-30 tie. Following a C.J. Avery interception, Lauther settled matters with a 43-yard, walk-off field goal.
“It was an unreal atmosphere,” Schaffer-Baker said. “It’s always fun going into an opponent’s stadium.
“It was their home opener, so they had the stadium packed. It was a hostile environment but, going in there and shutting down that crowd at the end of the game, there’s nothing better than that.”
Schaffer-Baker had never been better, points-wise, than he was while helping the Roughriders improve their record to 2-0.
The multi-touchdown performance was his first in 41 CFL regular-season games.
With seven catches for 109 yards, he reached triple digits for the fifth time as a pro. He also caught at least seven passes for the ninth time.
Schaffer-Baker’s receptions in Hamilton didn’t necessarily silence the crowd of 22,313. His personal cheering section consisted of roughly 30 people.
“That always means the world, just having family out there,” he said. “They’ve helped to support me and a lot of those people have moulded and cultivated me into the man I am today.
“Just having them out there for support was the greatest blessing in the world.”
After the game, Harris had effusive praise for Schaffer-Baker.
“The guy’s a stud,” the Roughriders’ signal-caller told reporters after passing for 390 yards. “We’re blessed to have him.
“He looks like the old Schaffer-Baker that I used to watch from afar and say, ‘Man, I’d love to play with this guy.’ ”
Now that the opportunity has arrived, what are the reviews?
“A lot of the things he does are insane in terms of being able to cut off the defensive backs and the way he shields the football,” Harris said of the 6-foot-4, 205-pound University of Guelph Gryphons product.
“You can throw him dig routes and you don’t think you have him or there’s a robber trying to undercut that route. He does a great job of shielding them off, big-bodying stuff.
“He’s tough and he’s so good after the catch, too. You saw the deep route that he caught (for 37 yards) on the last drive. He was able to shed a tackle after catching it the way he did. One of their defenders caught his leg. Had they not gotten that, he would have been out of the gate.
“If he catches the ball and you give him a little bit of open space, he can be out of there.”
On last Sunday’s first touchdown, for example, Schaffer-Baker turned a defender inside-out before catching a pass over the middle and fighting his way into the end zone.
“If you look around the league or, really, look at a lot of leagues and look at the big receivers, how many are top-tier?” said Head Coach Corey Mace, whose staff includes Receivers Coach Marquay McDaniel.
“To be a longer receiver and still be able to run good routes and possess everything else that even the smaller receivers have the ability to do, that’s big-time.
“They put in a bunch of work with Coach Quay every day. If you watch, they’re constantly working on it. They’ve been doing drills on the field and it has been paying off for Schaff.”
For Schaffer-Baker, part of the payoff is the privilege of being able enjoy a rapport with the fans in Saskatchewan.
“It’s home,” he said. “The love that I have for them and the love they share with me is something that we both grow on and thrive off of. It’s something I’m forever grateful for and something I’m going to continue to pour out into all the people in Saskatchewan.
“Just getting to suit up on game day and having the stands full and the crowd screaming your name and cheering for you no matter what’s happening, it means a lot.
“Even if things aren’t going our way, they’re still going to be behind us and supporting us. We’re forever grateful for that.”
And for the opportunity to call Harris a teammate, all these years after being part of the halftime show at BMO Field.
Honestly, what are the odds?
“You can’t write it down,” Schaffer said with a smile. “It’s just God at that point. Only God can explain something like that.”
