Looking back, Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Jake Maier enjoyed his first year with the team.
"The quarterback room actually talked about it together the last few days, reminiscing on what these last seven, eight months have meant to all of us. Believe it or not, playing as limited a fashion as I did, I still believe that this was my most enjoyed experience in the CFL," Maier said to voice of the Riders, Dave Thomas.
"It allowed me to take a step back and really realize my priorities have shifted. The way I see things is the way that I value being around good people and being around people who truly have your back. Being in this type of environment that coach [Corey] Mace has created on a daily basis, those things have elevated in my mind in terms of importance. It's been a crazy experience and I'm super grateful."
Saskatchewan defeated the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 to win the 112th Grey Cup. That win for Maier was the first Grey Cup victory of his career. When recalling the game, Maier described the atmosphere on the sideline as the clock hit zero.
"It really is a surreal out-of-body experience," Maier said. "To see people that you genuinely love experience a high and to see what it means to Trevor Harris, who's been in the league for a while now, to see what it means to coach Mace and coach Mueller and some of the Regina boys that grew up watching Roughrider football and at some point were hopeful that they got to experience that together. The championship rings and all that stuff are all fine and dandy, but to see the genuine reaction, we really did something special together, you can't beat that."
During the 2025 regular season, Maier dressed in all 18 games for Saskatchewan, two he started. The first start was in Week 4, when Saskatchewan beat the B.C. Lions, 37-18. While the other start was in Week 20, the Riders lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 17-16. The six-foot, 200-pound quarterback completed 63 percent of his passes for 617 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Maier's CFL career started with the Calgary Stampeders in 2021 and he stayed with them through 2024. Along the way, he was coached by Riders' offensive coordinator Marc Mueller as the Stamps quarterbacks coach from 2020 to 2023. He battled with coach Mace in practice, who coached the Stampeders' defensive line from 2016 to 2021. Saskatchewan sent over a 2025 eighth-round CFL Draft pick to Calgary on December 23, 2024 to have a chance to sign Maier prior to free agency.
"I've always had a great relationship with coach Mueller. I've always had high respect for coach Mace, even though I was only with him for a year when he was the defensive line coach. But I knew the people that were in this building, I think you saw from afar in 2024, the trajectory of this place and where it was going. When I initially got word that I was being traded here, it was really a no-brainer in my mind. It was a matter of making sure that my family was being taken care of for the year," Maier said.
"Once that got done, it was something that I knew that was going to be a great time and a great experience. I didn't know if it meant we were going to win the championship or not, but I had a good feeling that showing up to work every day was going to be a lot of fun. When you have that type of work environment, you know guys are working hard and you put all those ingredients together, this is what it can look like. The outcome is not surprising, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be extremely grateful for it because you can't take these things for granted."
