| Jermarcus Hardrick | |
| Nickname: | Yoshi |
| Image Upright: | 0.95 |
| Status: | Active |
| Import: | yes |
| Team: | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| Number: | 51 |
| Position: | Offensive lineman |
| Birth Date: | May 30, 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Batesville, Mississippi |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 5 |
| Weight Lbs: | 311 |
| High School: | South Panola |
| College: | Fort Scott Nebraska |
| Playing Team1: | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Playing Team2: | New Orleans Saints |
| Playing Team3: | Utah Blaze |
| Playing Team4: | BC Lions |
| Playing Team5: | Tampa Bay Storm |
| Playing Team6: | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| Playing Years7: | – |
| Playing Team7: | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| Playing Years8: | –present |
| Playing Team8: | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| Career Footnotes: | |
| Cflallstar: | , |
| Cflwestallstar: | ,, |
| Career Highlights: |
|
| Statlabel1: | Games played |
| Statvalue1: | 133 |
| Statlabel2: | Games started |
| Statvalue2: | 131 |
| Nfl-New: | jermarcus-hardrick/ |
| Cfl: | jermarcus-hardrick/160792/ |
Jermarcus "Yoshi" Hardrick (born May 30, 1990) is an American professional football offensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[1] He is a Grey Cup champion as a member of the 107th Grey Cup champions and is a two-time West Division All-Star receiving the honour in 2017 and 2021.[2] He played college football for the Fort Scott Greyhounds before joining the Nebraska Cornhuskers for two years to finish his college playing eligibility.[3]
Hardrick was originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on May 7, 2012.[4] He played in three preseason games, but was released with the final cuts on August 31, 2012.[5] [4]
Hardrick later signed a practice roster agreement on November 21, 2012, with the New Orleans Saints and was not re-signed during the following off-season.[4]
Hardrick then spent one season in the Arena Football League (AFL), playing for the Utah Blaze.[6]
Hardrick signed a practice roster agreement with the BC Lions on July 15, 2014, and played in his first CFL game on July 19, 2014, against the Montreal Alouettes.[1] [7] The following week, he made his first career start on July 25, 2014, in a game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[2] During the 2014 season, he played in 12 games for the Lions and started in 10 of them.[2] He was released by the Lions on April 29, 2015.[8]
After being released, Hardrick returned to the AFL with the Tampa Bay Storm, joining them on June 5, 2015, but stayed with the team for only two games.[6] On June 18, 2015, it was announced that Hardrick had signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders just prior to the team's second preseason game.[8] [9]
Hardrick was released shortly after, but was signed to the team's practice roster on August 20, 2015.[8] He was promoted to the active roster for the September 6, 2015 game against the Blue Bombers where the Roughriders earned their first win of a difficult season.[8] He dressed and started in eight games to end the 2015 season.[2] He was released by the Roughriders on February 16, 2016.[10]
One day after his release from the Roughriders, Hardrick signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on February 17, 2016.[11] For the 2016 season, he played and started in 16 regular season games as the Blue Bombers qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2011.[2] He also started a trend for home games at IG Field when the lineman, weighing 314lb, jumped into the stands following a touchdown. The crowd celebration would become known as the "Hardrick Hop" or "Hardrick Leap".[12]
In 2017, Hardrick started all 18 regular season games at right tackle and was named a CFL West All-star.[13] He signed a one-year contract extension at the end of the season on November 16, 2017.[14] For the 2018 season, he missed three games due to injury, but started in the other 15 regular season games.[2] He started in both of the Blue Bomber's playoff games, as Winnipeg lost the West Final to the Calgary Stampeders.[2] He signed a one-year extension on November 28, 2018.[15]
The 2019 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season saw Hardrick start at right tackle for all 18 regular season games as the team led the league in rushing yards.[2] [16] He also started in all three of the Blue Bombers' post-season games and he won his first Grey Cup championship in 107th Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.[17]
In the following off-season, Hardrick signed a one-year extension on December 14, 2019, to play with the team for the 2020 season.[17] However, the 2020 CFL season was cancelled, so he signed another one-year extension on December 30, 2020.[18] Hardrick again anchored the right side of the line as Winnipeg went on to led the CFL in wins during the regular season. They would defeat Saskatchewan in the semi-finals to go to a Grey Cup rematch with Hamilton. In the 2021 Grey Cup the Bombers trailed 22-10 but Hardrick helped build a clean pocket as the Bombers would come back to win 33-25 in overtime for their second Grey Cup championship in a row. For his great play throughout the season, Hardrick was named a CFL All-Star and CFL West All-Star for the first time in his career.
Hardrick then signed a one-year contract extension at $150,000 for the year to stay in Winnipeg for the 2022 CFL season.
Hardrick became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 13, 2024.[19]
On February 5, 2024, during the CFL's Free Agency communication window, it was reported that once the free agent market officially opens on February 13, Hardrick would be signing a two-year contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.[20] On February 13, the Roughriders confirmed that Hardrick had signed a two-year contract with the team.[21]
Hardrick was born and grew up in the small town of Courtland, Mississippi, population 350. The town was very small and did not have a lot of opportunity for its residents, the town had no paved roads, aside from the highway, and most residents lived in trailers.[22] His birth father went to prison when Hardrick was three, he had fathered 17 children in Courtland with different women, and was rarely seen in his life.[22] Hardrick's best friend growing up was a boy named Mario Lewis; because the two were always together, people began calling Hardrick "Yoshi", a reference to the characters Mario and Yoshi from the Mario franchise of video games.[22] The two would later find out they were half-brothers.[22] He met his wife Samantha at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she was competing as a track athlete, and together they have three children, living at their home in Lincoln during the off-season.[22] [23]