Jameer Thurman and Jorgen Hus are getting ready for a numbers game.
Thurman, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ starting middle linebacker, will play in his 100th CFL regular-season game when the Ottawa REDBLACKS visit Mosaic Stadium on Thursday.
That contest will double as the 150th for Jorgen Hus. The Saskatoon-born long snapper has been a member of the Green and White since 2015 — the team’s penultimate season at the facility formerly known as Taylor Field.
“It was my goal my rookie year to play 10 years here,” Hus recalled. “I remember making that goal to myself in the old locker room … and here we are.
“It’s like you blink and a decade goes by. I’m not so sure it’s a good thing that it has gone by that quickly, but here we are nonetheless.
“I’m thankful. I’ve had a lot of good guys around me to make it happen. It’s simply a product of that. I’m super pumped to be here.”
Hus played for the Saskatoon Hilltops and University of Regina Rams before being selected by Edmonton in the fourth round (31st overall) of the 2013 CFL Draft.
He had NFL tryouts with the St. Louis Rams (in 2013 and 2014), Seattle Seahawks (2014) and Kansas City Chiefs (2015) before deciding to play in his home and native land.
More to the point, he wanted to play in his home province. He became a Roughrider on May 11th, 2015, when he was acquired from Edmonton for veteran receiver Cory Watson.
“I didn’t want to play for anyone else in the CFL,” said Hus, 35, whose 10th anniversary as a Roughrider coincided with Day 1 of this year’s Coors Light Training Camp.
“When I finished doing my NFL tour and I knew I was coming back to the CFL, I told my agent, ‘I only want to play for Saskatchewan.’ They made that trade happen back in 2015 and here we are.
“It has just been a dream. You grow up here watching it. To wear these colours, I pinch myself every day. I haven’t gotten used to it at all. It has been cool the whole time.”
Like Hus, Thurman has demonstrated his talents on both sides of the border.
The Indiana State University alumnus was with the Calgary Stampeders in 2017 and 2018 before spending training camp and the pre-season with the hometown Chicago Bears in 2019.
While the CFL was on a COVID-influenced hiatus in 2020, Thurman played with the XFL’s DC Defenders.
He then spent two more seasons with Calgary before joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2023.
Thurman signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent on Feb. 13th, 2024 and proceeded to earn All-CFL recognition — a divisional nod — for the first time.
His sustained excellence will be recognized on Thursday when the 100th game kicks in.
“It’s a great milestone throughout a career,” said Thurman, 30. “A lot of guys don’t get the opportunity to have a 100th game. I’m excited.
“To me, it’s just another game, but it shows that my hard work and consistency have paid off. I’m looking forward to continuing that.”
For many athletes, it is a milestone to play one game of professional sports, period. Factor in the gruelling nature of pro football and feats such as Thurman’s are especially noteworthy.
“It’s extremely tough (to reach 100 games),” he said. “It’s a lot of hours of recovery and taking care of the body, in-season and out of season.
“There’s never a time to slack off. There’s always something to be better at. Improving each and every year, that goes a long way.”
Thurman and Hus are both in an enviable situation. Football isn’t the be-all and end-all for either player.
Hus, a broker with The Mortgage Group, effectively balances two vocations.
Thurman earned a degree in civil engineering, with a minor in construction management, from Indiana State.
Despite having an impressive academic resume, Thurman isn’t in a hurry to become a full-time civil engineer. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Roughriders in January.
“The main thing is I love the game,” said Thurman, who is 57 defensive tackles shy of 500 for his career.
“There’s always a timetable in this game, too. With the other stuff, you could pick that up at any time. Why not play and do what I love for the time being as long as I can and continue to play at a high level as well?
“That’s why I continue to do it. That’s why I’m going to continue to do it. When that time comes, whenever that is, that’ll be it.”
