Cody Fajardo thanks media, critics for ‘extra motivation’ after Edmonton Elks’ first-place finish

Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks

Cody Fajardo had no trouble lifting the Edmonton Elks into first place in the West Division; he’s gotten pretty strong from carrying around the chip on his shoulder.

The 34-year-old quarterback called out the doubters following Edmonton’s 35-27 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night, which secured a playoff bye for the Green and Gold.

“Couldn’t be any prouder of this team. I’ll say this: not one single person outside this building thought we could do what we did tonight,” he insisted. “We did that, and so there’s more to accomplish. We’ll keep the critics where they’re at, and we’re just gonna keep winning football games.”

Fajardo completed 12-of-17 passes for just 120 yards and two touchdowns in the win, but ran eight times for 72 yards and a pair of majors to secure the result. It was the latest performance in what has been a career year for the Brea, Calif., native.

With 4,788 yards, 25 touchdowns, and only 10 interceptions through 17 games, Fajardo has already set new career highs in passing yardage and passing touchdowns. Perhaps more remarkably, given his age, his 517 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground represent his second-best single-season totals. All of that success has come while being one of just two quarterbacks in the CFL to start every game through Week 20.

Two years removed from being cast aside by Montreal and picked up by Edmonton as a backup, Fajardo has now led the Elks on a historic turnaround from worst to first in the West. Make no mistake, he’s made a note of every slight along the way and used them as fuel.

“There’s some things that happened in the off-season: getting snubbed off the Top 50 in the CFL, people not taking us serious, having the biggest Grey Cup odds to win the Grey Cup. There’s a lot of things that I take personal, and it’s very mirrored to my 2023 season in Montreal,” he said. “I just don’t think people get it. I just want to win football games, and I win football games. Thanks for all the extra motivation to all the media and all the critics out there.”

Fajardo led the Alouettes to an improbable Grey Cup victory in 2023 after offseason ownership turmoil left them at the bottom of most preseason predictions. He delivered an impassioned pre-game speech which helped spark Montreal’s win and was named the game’s MVP, but lasted just one more season in La Belle Province before being cast out.

Propelling a struggling franchise to great heights wasn’t a fluke; his performance this year proves that. The only difference is that he has been dramatically more productive from a personal standpoint, far exceeding his numbers from that championship season in Montreal. Along the way, Edmonton’s win total has ballooned from seven in 2025 to at least 13 this year.

The result has been aided by the entire Elks organization matching Fajardo’s love for proving the doubters wrong. That includes head coach Mark Kilam, who hasn’t been the least bit surprised by the resurgence.

“What do you think, man? I thought I wanted to do it last year. Come on, now,” the second-year bench boss told reporters. “Week 17 last year, we got eliminated from the playoffs. All of last year, we were in chase mode because we started in a massive hole. We wanted to flip that script, and we did this year.”

The Elks did find themselves in a chase position in Week 20, as the Bombers jumped in front 21-10 in the final minute of the second quarter. The game turned when a touchdown drive was mounted in response, capped by an audacious gamble on third-and-four when already in field goal range.

“I give Kilam a lot of credit for having us stay out there right before half. That’s a huge momentum swing,” Fajardo said. “If we get stopped there, we’re going into halftime feeling bad about ourselves. Calling a double move in that situation, credit to Jordan (Maksymic). Credit Austin Mack; he ran the best route that he’s run all week and catches an easy one in the corner of the end zone. That gave us life. That gave us momentum.”

“I just said, ‘Let’s f***ing score.’ That’s what I said. Excuse my French,” Kilam said of the decision. “I wanted to be aggressive. We hadn’t been down there very much. I wanted to be aggressive. I wanted to show the football team that I believed in them, and they rewarded me.”

In their own ways, both Fajardo and Kilam hammered home the “us against the world” message that had been preached all season. All of that came to fruition on a 13-play, 95-yard drive in the fourth quarter, which Fajardo capped with his second rushing touchdown to lock down the top seed.

“I saw championship-level football. That’s what I saw,” Kilam said. “I saw an offence that had struggled at times find ways to make plays at a critical time in the game. That’s what good teams do.”

The Elks (13-4) will now enjoy a meaningless regular-season finale and a well-earned week off, before hosting the West Final at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday, November 7. That will mark the first playoff game in Edmonton since 2015, which also happens to be the last time that the Green and Gold hoisted the Grey Cup.

Fajardo won’t be satisfied until all the critics watch them replicate that finish this year.

“I told the guys going into this game, this is phase three of five,” he said. “Check that one off the list.”