The drill was old hat — old helmet? — for Tommy Nield.
Five seasons in the CFL. Three Grey Cup championships.
Most recently, Nield helped the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 in Sunday’s all-the-marbles game at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” says Nield, who previously sipped from Earl Grey’s grail with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2024.
“Each one feels different than the other. There are special things that you remember. To be a part of this one has been the most fun for me, personally. Just seeing how supported the team is and how much Rider Nation rallies behind us is awesome.
“You could feel all the energy at the parade and you could see online how happy people are. It really brings this whole province together.
“It’s special to win here, for sure.”
The Roughriders won the Western Final on the strength of a three-yard touchdown reception by Nield with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter against the visiting B.C. Lions on Nov. 8.
In the 112th Grey Cup Game, his 34-yard reception was immediately followed by Tommy Stevens’ one-yard TD run.
Tommy + Tommy = equals six points.
“Signing here, I definitely saw a Grey Cup in my mind and visualized this moment,” Nield says. “Obviously, the goal every year is to win a championship, but to have it come true and be able to contribute the way I know I can and get opportunities was super-exciting for me.
“I’m just grateful to be on this team and to be put in those positions.”
DALKE’S DROUGHT DISSOLVES
Like the Roughriders, linebacker Jayden Dalke had not won a championship since 2013. Not until Sunday, anyway.
Dalke was in Grade 11 when he helped the Leduc (Alta.) Tigers capture a Metro Edmonton High School Athletics title.
“It was a 12-year drought for me, too,” Dalke says.
After graduating from Leduc Composite High School, Dalke spent four Prairie Football Conference seasons with the Edmonton Wildcats before joining the University of Alberta Golden Bears in 2019.
Then a defensive back, he was selected by Saskatchewan in the sixth round (54th overall) of the 2022 CFL Draft.
He impressed the Roughriders’ brass at the 2022 CFL Combine, determinedly taking part in the drills and interviews while still recovering from a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee — an injury he had aggravated in the 2021 Canada West playoffs.
“I just kept battling and trying to make it somewhere,” Dalke reflects. “I’m happy I was resilient enough to make it.
“It’s awesome to have a pretty successful career already and be four years into it and now be Grey Cup champions. It’s surreal.”
RIDERS’ ROOKIE RUNGE REJOICES
A la Dalke, fullback Morgen Runge played high school, junior and university football in Alberta before making it to the CFL with the Roughriders.
There are, however, some differences.
Runge was undrafted.
The former Golden Bears and Edmonton Huskies standout took part in three CFL training camps before cracking the Riders’ roster this past June.
Not only that, “This is the first championship win of my entire football career,” he says.
“A couple of times we got to the last big game of the year and just weren’t able to get over that hump.”
While playing football at Hilltop High School in Whitecourt, Alta., he helped the Cats advance to playoff games against the Grande Prairie St. Joe’s Celtics and Cochrane Cobras, only to lament season-ending losses both times.
He didn’t even start playing football until Grade 11. Previously, he had concentrated on hockey.
“When I was playing hockey, we still weren’t very good,” recalls Runge, who turns 28 on Monday. “We lost a lot of games. I got really good at losing games.”
Runge has maintained a connection to hockey, but strictly as a fan. At the 2025 Riders’ training camp, he proudly wore an Edmonton Oilers jersey during their second straight surge to the Stanley Cup Final.
With that in mind, he is asked: Did you ever think that you would be in a victory parade before Connor McDavid?
“I didn’t think so,” Runge says with a laugh. “McDavid is probably a much better athlete than I am, but I’m still rooting for the guy.”
ONE GAME, ONE MEMORABLE SEASON
C.J. Avery registered the Roughriders’ first and fifth defensive tackles of the season.
Quickly building on an impressive rookie season, Avery was conspicuous from the moment the Roughriders kicked off their 2025 campaign against the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Alas, it would be his only appearance of the season — one that culminated in the fifth Grey Cup victory in Roughriders history.
His left foot in a walking boot, Avery is cheerful as always despite facing adverse circumstances.
“It has been a different experience for me this year, just being out with injury and getting to watch my brothers, but I enjoyed every minute of it,” he says.
“For me to go through this and then we end up winning the trophy, I can’t ask for anything better. I’m grateful for it and just excited to get myself healthy and ready to go.
“It’s just fuelling me for my off-season to work 10 times harder. I am a part of the celebration, but I want to be part of the contributions to winning next year.”
One off-season milestone will include the shedding of the walking boot.
“That’ll go in the garbage in a couple of weeks,” Avery states. “We’re getting that out of the way!”
MUSIC TO THE EARS
So, how does one use football parlance to refer to an overused larynx?
Despite the …. ummm … upper-body injury, Lake Korte-Moore is delighted to discuss the post-Grey Cup pandemonium.
“No, it’s good,” the always-cheerful defensive lineman says, barely above a whisper.
“It’s all worth it.”
One can understand why the vocal chords are not in top form.
SUNDAY: Roughriders win Grey Cup.
MONDAY: Korte-Moore celebrates 26th birthday.
And, oh, did he celebrate!
He and several teammates (Dalke included) took their new/old friend — the 116-year-old championship trophy — to O’Hanlon’s Irish Pub and immersed themselves in the fine art of karaoke.
“All in one, it has been a big party and a great moment,” Korte-Moore says. “Just to get to spend it with the guys in this room, it really means a lot. We’re really family in here, so it has been awesome.”
Until Monday, what had been his best birthday present?
“Tickets to an NFL game or something with my dad,” Korte-Moore says, “but nothing compares to this.”
LUCK OF THE IRISH
It all seems to fit — even the predominantly green colour scheme.
Korte-Moore, Dalke and friends visit an Irish pub. The Roughriders’ roster includes former Notre Dame Fighting Irish starting quarterback Jack Coan. Perfect.
Obviously, Coan has experience with the bright lights, but the Grey Cup has its own lustre.
“I’d say it’s just as big as any football moment in my life,” says Coan, who shared the quarterbacks’ room this past season with Stevens, Jake Maier and 2025 Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris.
“Obviously, I didn’t play or anything, but just the feeling I got watching all the guys in the locker room and watching the coaching staff and support staff celebrate, it was a feeling like no other.
“It’s truly one of those teams where you look around and you truly do just want it for the guy next to you. You wanted to see that guy have that pure joy that comes with winning a championship.
“When we did that, it was just such an amazing feeling. I’d say it has exceeded expectations — just seeing the way guys celebrated and how happy everyone was.
“I saw super-serious people in our organization, like (President-CEO) Craig Reynolds and J.O. (Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day) and our coaching staff, totally letting loose and going nuts. It was so cool to see.
“The celebration has just been unbelievable. It’s a feeling I’ll never forget.”