‘It’s been a long waiting period:’ Rams’ Varga excited to see results of CFL draft

After months of workouts and interviews, Ryder Varga is ready to find out where his football career is heading next.

“I’m excited. It’s been a long waiting period the last couple of months, just wondering where you could go,” the University of Regina Rams linebacker said. “I’m just excited to see where I get drafted.”

While he’s excited to play for whatever team takes him in Tuesday’s CFL draft, the Regina product does admit it would be special to play for his hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“I can’t lie, it would be a dream come true. You grow up and watch the guys play and you could never imagine getting to a point where you could share the same field as some of these guys,” Varga said.

“It’d be pretty exciting but I’m willing to go anywhere, so I don’t want to give the wrong impression (to teams). But I can’t lie – playing for the Riders would be a nice experience.”

Varga said it feels good to reach this point after COVID-19 cancelled the Rams’ 2020 season.

“It’s something I couldn’t have accomplished if I didn’t love the process and the grind of it all. I’m really happy I persevered and everyone kept me on a good path and we all worked our butts off to get where we are today,” Varga said. “I’m just happy we stuck with it.”

Varga was one of the attendees at the CFL National Combine ahead of the draft, during which athletes competed in a wide variety of athletic drills but also team interviews.

“It’s just cool to talk with all these different teams and see these big CFL legends – like (Toronto Argonauts GM) Pinball Clemons and stuff – and shake their hands,” Varga said. “It flew by a lot faster than I was expecting, but it’s something I’ll never forget for sure.”

His draft day is set to be a low-key affair, as he watches the draft from his home in Regina with some close friends.

“We’re just going to hang out and have a good time together and just enjoy the moment,” Varga said.