Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back James Burgess Jr. was put to the test, and he had to rack his brain for a bit.
Asked by Voice of the Roughriders Dave Thomas if he remembered the last time he played in a football game before last Saturday, Burgess hemmed and hawed.
“Oh, man. It’s been a minute,” he said. “I haven’t played like a real game since college, actually. So, it’s 2024. I don’t even remember my last game in 2024. I think we played Tuskegee with Alabama State.”
Ding, ding. Right answer, James. We can forgive his hazy memory, though.
Burgess stepped in for the injured Tevaughn Campbell in the second half of last week’s 28-26 win in Edmonton to make his CFL debut. It took an awful long time for him to get to that point after his senior year of college.
Burgess wasn’t selected in the 2025 NFL Draft but eventually signed with the New England Patriots. He never made their roster. He signed with the Roughriders in February but was cut in training camp. At least the Riders liked what they saw and re-signed him in June.
“James, that was one of the tougher cuts at the end of camp because he had a good camp,” Riders coach Corey Mace said. “We thought highly of him, obviously, being able to bring him back just like that.”
Burgess has been preparing for his CFL debut for weeks now. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound DB needed a little time to get the intricacies of the Canadian rules down first.
“It’s different,” he said. “Adjusting to 12 people and wagglers. But once you really buy in and learn formations, you pick up on it quick. Football is football at the end of the day. It was a slight change, but I adjusted good.
“My first time seeing it, I’m like, ‘Whoa! What is this?’ You’ve just got to trust yourself, trust your speed, and trust your technique and your leverage.”
Burgess, 24, stepped in nicely for Campbell, recording four tackles in the victory. He certainly impressed his coach.
“He’s made plays in practice since he’s been back,” Mace said. “We were comfortable to definitely get him out there in the game, and he showed up for us, made some key tackles for us to help us get off the field. Just another guy that understands the process and what we’re trying to get done here, prepares himself.
“If his number’s called, he’s expected to go out there and execute, and he did a good job.”
Campbell is out for Saturday’s game with a forearm injury, so the Riders might need more of what Burgess offered last week when the Ottawa Redblacks visit.
He’ll be drawing on that first CFL experience – that long-awaited first pro game – in his next opportunity.
“It was wonderful,” Burgess said. “To go out there and really contribute to the gameplay and make some plays out there, it felt good to really get out there and do me.
“Lord knows I’ve been waiting for my chance and just grinding every day, trying to stack my great days. When they told me that I was dressing and told me that I was going to get into the game, I was ready and knowing I was going to go out there and make some plays.”
