Mason Fine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mason Fine

Fine at 2018 C-USA Football Kickoff
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Born:	(1997-04-19) April 19, 1997 (age 28) Peggs, Oklahoma, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:	Locust Grove (Locust Grove, Oklahoma)
College:	North Texas
Undrafted:	2020
Career history
Saskatchewan Roughriders (2021–2023)
CFL status:	American
Career highlights and awards
2× CUSA Offensive Player of the Year (2017, 2018) 2× First-team All-CUSA (2017, 2018) Second-team All-CUSA (2019) All-CUSA Freshman team (2016) 2× Oklahoma Gatorade HS Player of the Year (2014, 2015)
Career CFL statistics
Passing completions: 167 Passing attempts: 249 Passing yards: 1,803 TD–INT: 6–8
Player stats at CFL.ca

Mason Fine (born April 19, 1997) is an American professional football quarterback. He is currently a free agent, meaning he is not signed with any team. He most recently played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Before turning pro, he played college football at North Texas.

Mason's Early Life and Training

Mason Fine grew up in Peggs, Oklahoma. He is one-quarter Cherokee and is an official citizen of the Cherokee Nation. His family has Cherokee roots on both sides.

Mason started learning to be a quarterback before he was in sixth grade. He went to a special camp at the University of Oklahoma. There, he watched Josh Heupel, a former Oklahoma star player, throw the ball. Mason paid close attention to Heupel's throwing style and listened to his advice.

Every day after camp, Mason wrote down what he learned. He and his dad, Dale, typed up these notes. Mason even kept a copy next to his bed to study.

Mason's dad, Dale, had never played football. But he helped Mason train. They used the notes from the camp to teach each other how to throw correctly. Dale said they practiced for "hours and days and months and years." Their motto was that "perfect practice" makes perfect. By the time Mason finished eighth grade, his throwing was excellent. An instructor at a camp later praised his throwing and couldn't believe his dad had no football experience.

High School Football Star

Mason's hometown only had a school up to eighth grade. So, in 2012, he chose to go to Locust Grove High School. The school's team, the Pirates, had a new coach, Matt Hennesy. The team had only won two games in the past three years.

Coach Hennesy saw that Mason was the best passer on the team. But Mason was only 5-foot-9 and 135 pounds as a freshman. The coach worried about putting such a small player behind a weak offensive line.

So, Coach Hennesy first started Mason as a wide receiver. But he also created special trick plays to let Mason throw the ball. As a freshman, Mason threw for over 600 yards, even though he wasn't the main quarterback.

For his last three years of high school, Mason became the starting quarterback. He set new records in Oklahoma for most passing yards and touchdowns. He also became the first player ever to win the state's Gatorade Player of the Year award twice.

The Journey to College Football

Even with amazing high school stats, Mason didn't get any scholarship offers after his senior year. This was mainly because of his size. At a summer camp, a coach from Arkansas State told him he had a great arm. But the coach said Mason was too small to play at a top college level (Division I FBS). He suggested Mason try for smaller schools. Mason was polite but felt very upset inside.

Other big schools also didn't offer him a scholarship. Rice was interested but chose a taller player. Oklahoma State only offered him a chance to be a walk-on, meaning he wouldn't get a scholarship. Even Kansas State's coach, Bill Snyder, said he didn't recruit quarterbacks under 6 feet tall.

Mason finally got a chance when North Texas hired Seth Littrell as their new head coach. Coach Littrell was a friend of Mason's high school coach, Matt Hennesy. Littrell's team used an "Air Raid offense," which was similar to what Mason played in high school.

Coach Littrell called Hennesy to ask about quarterbacks. He and his staff were very impressed with Mason's skills. Littrell said that Mason was better than other local players who had offers from bigger schools. He joked that if Mason were taller, every team would have wanted him.

Mason really wanted this offer. He even made his shoes taller for his visit to North Texas! Coach Littrell said they would have taken him no matter what. On February 3, 2016, Mason Fine officially signed to play for North Texas.

College Success at North Texas

Mason Fine started nine games for North Texas in his first year, 2016. He threw for 1,572 yards. He also set a school record with an 80-yard touchdown run against UTSA. This earned him a spot on the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

In his second and third years, Mason led his team to nine wins each season. He threw for a total of 7,845 yards and 58 touchdowns. He won the CUSA Offensive Player of the Year award two years in a row. He also broke the school's record for career passing yards.

Before his senior year in 2019, Mason was named the top college quarterback in Texas. The UNT athletic department even started a campaign to promote him for the Heisman Trophy. This award goes to the most outstanding player in college football.

College Statistics

Playing Pro Football

After the 2020 NFL draft, Mason Fine was not chosen by any NFL teams. He had a tryout with the Chicago Bears in August 2020.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Mason had been on the Saskatchewan Roughriders' special list since 2017. This list allows CFL teams to negotiate with players. He signed a three-year contract with the Canadian Football League team on December 30, 2020.

In his first season in the CFL, Mason was a backup quarterback. He played behind Cody Fajardo, who had been the Roughriders' starting quarterback since 2019. Mason played in the final regular season game, completing 5 passes for 64 yards. He also served as the backup in two playoff games.

On October 19, 2022, Mason was named the starting quarterback for a game against the Calgary Stampeders. This was his first CFL start. He completed 18 of 28 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown. However, the Riders lost, and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. He also started the team's last game of the season.

Mason started the 2023 season as the backup to veteran quarterback Trevor Harris. In Week 6, Trevor Harris got a serious knee injury. Mason finished that game and started the next four games. In his fourth start, on August 11, he left the game with an injury in the second quarter. He missed four games because of this injury. He dressed for the last five games of the season but only played in one.

On January 23, 2024, Mason signed a new two-year contract with the Roughriders. However, he was released by the team on June 1, 2024, after the final training camp cuts.

CFL Career Statistics