Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback Jake Dolegala is set to face trial for an impaired driving charge he received during the 2022 CFL season.
According to Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post, Dolegala will appear in Regina Provincial Court on Thursday, May 18. He was arrested and charged with impaired driving following an alleged incident on Sept. 17. The young passer informed the Riders of the charge and was subsequently suspended by the team for one game.
“Drinking and driving is a significant problem in our province, one that can have dangerous consequences, and we are disappointed in Jake for his actions,” the Riders wrote in a statement announcing the suspension, noting that they had contacted the league office and were taking the matter “seriously.”
Dolegala spoke to the media shortly after the suspension was announced and indicated that he felt as though he’d let a lot of people down.
“I’d like to apologize to my teammates, to the fans, to this organization,” he said at the time. “It’s difficult and embarrassing to go through something like this. I never wanted to be a distraction to our goal, to what we want to accomplish this year with playoffs coming up. Just a terrible time.”
The 26-year-old saw action in two games over the course of the 2022 season behind Cody Fajardo and Mason Fine, completing 16-of-35 pass attempts for 154 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He started the club’s 31-21 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in Week 7 as the club had a number of players test positive for COVID-19.
The six-foot-seven, 242-pound passer was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals after going unselected in the 2019 NFL Draft and spent the entire season on their active roster. He played two preseason games that year and completed 37-of-54 pass attempts for 347 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed three times for 12 yards.
The native of Hamburg, N.Y. went on to spend time with the New England Patriots (2020-2021), Green Bay Packers (2021), and Miami Dolphins (2021) before signing in the CFL. He recently completed a workout with the Chicago Bears alongside Edmonton Elks’ quarterback Kai Locksley.
Dolegala attended Central Connecticut State University where he played in 44 games over four seasons (2015-2018). He completed 654 passes for 8,129 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions with the Blue Devils and added an additional 452 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
He left the school its all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns and was just the fifth quarterback in Northeastern Conference history to throw for over 8,000 career yards. He was named First Team All-Northeastern Conference as a senior.
