OTTAWA, CANADA - JUNE 20: The Toronto Argonauts on the road for a regular season CFL game against the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place. (Photo by: James Paddle-Grant/Toronto Argonauts)
Ryan Dinwiddie wanted to make a statement against his former team. When his Ottawa REDBLACKS hosted the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, Dinwiddie won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
The plan was to score first, to set the tone in an early-season game that may indicate which directions the two East Division foes are heading.
They started the drive on their own 37-yard line. After a one-yard gain on first down, Redblacks quarterback Jake Maier dropped back and threw a deep pass, looking for receiver Keelan White down the middle. But the ball was underthrown as Maier was hit by Jonathan Kongbo and Andrew Chatfield as he released it, giving a Toronto rookie a chance to step up and make a momentum changing play.
For James Ceasar, his first CFL interception came in his second game as the Argos starting boundary halfback. Ten plays later Chad Kelly threw a touchdown pass to Makai Polk. The Redblacks gambled backfired, and the Argos were on their way to a 44-24 victory.
It made a statement, not just for the rookie CFLer, but for the entire defence.
“We came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Ceasar told Argonauts.ca. “As a defence you want to take the ball away. We just wanted to go out there and get a stop and get the ball back to our offence. We’ve got a really good offence; we’ve got a really good quarterback, great receiving corps, great running backs, great o-line, we just wanted to get it back and give them as many opportunities as we can to get into the end zone.”
James Ceasar’s namesake Julius – their last names spelled differently – was quoted as saying “Experience is the teacher of all things.” They’re words that apply to the Detroit native as after struggling a bit in the pre-season and first game in Montreal, he showed obvious improvement in the Capital.
“In the first game I went out there and was just trying to get a feel for the game,” he said. “It was a different speed; it’s a bigger field than what I’m used to playing. They had a nice receiving corps and a really good quarterback. Once we got to the second half it started to slow down a lot for me. Going into the second game I was a lot more comfortable with my technique, my alignment, my assignments, and just doing everything the right way.”
The Southern Illinois product’s road to Toronto hasn’t been a direct one. In his senior season with the Salukis he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. He didn’t play in the 2022 or ’23 seasons but stayed close to the game as a graduate assistant coach with his alma mater.
Ceasar returned to the field in 2024 with the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League. He played there for two seasons, winning an IFL championship last year. The level of the sport didn’t matter to him, he was just thrilled to be able to play football again at a competitive level.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said, “Football is something I’ve been doing all my life. I started playing when I was five years old. The love for the game has always been there and being without it left a little void in me. I went through some depression and different things like that, but just being back on the field I have a much deeper appreciation for it. I never take a day for granted and try to come out here each and every day and just get better and enjoy the process because it’s been a long journey.”
He earned a spot on the team, then in the starting lineup. He started both games this year at boundary halfback, also lined up as the nickel, then after injuries to Robert Priester and Ethan John, Ceasar finished last week’s game at safety and didn’t look out of place.
“It does a lot for my confidence,” said the 28-year-old. “Just knowing that the coaches trust me to be out there. It’s a really tough league to play in, there’s some really great quarterbacks – everybody is saying it’s the year of the quarterback. So, it’s given me a lot of confidence and then just trust in myself and knowing the type of player I am, knowing the work that I’ve put in this off season preparing for this season.”
With Priester and John forced to leave last week’s game, it will be worth keeping an eye on Ceasar to see where he lines up against the Roughriders on Friday night in Regina.