The drill was old hat \u2014 old helmet? \u2014\u00a0for Tommy Nield.<\/p>\n
Five seasons in the CFL. Three Grey Cup championships.<\/p>\n
Most recently, Nield helped the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 in Sunday\u2019s all-the-marbles game at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing feeling,\u201d says Nield, who previously sipped from Earl Grey\u2019s grail with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could feel all the energy at the parade and you could see online how happy people are. It really brings this whole province together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s special to win here, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the 112th Grey Cup Game, his 34-yard reception was immediately followed by Tommy Stevens\u2019 one-yard TD run.<\/p>\n
Tommy + Tommy = equals six points.<\/p>\n
\u201cSigning here, I definitely saw a Grey Cup in my mind and visualized this moment,\u201d Nield says. \u201cObviously, 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just grateful to be on this team and to be put in those positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
DALKE\u2019S DROUGHT DISSOLVES<\/p>\n
Like the Roughriders, linebacker Jayden Dalke had not won a championship since 2013. Not until Sunday, anyway.<\/p>\n
Dalke was in Grade 11 when he helped the Leduc (Alta.) Tigers capture a Metro Edmonton High School Athletics title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a 12-year drought for me, too,\u201d Dalke says.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Then a defensive back, he was selected by Saskatchewan in the sixth round (54th overall) of the 2022 CFL Draft.<\/p>\n
He impressed the Roughriders\u2019 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 \u2014 an injury he had aggravated in the 2021 Canada West playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kept battling and trying to make it somewhere,\u201d Dalke reflects. \u201cI\u2019m happy I was resilient enough to make it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to have a pretty successful career already and be four years into it and now be Grey Cup champions. It\u2019s surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n
RIDERS\u2019 ROOKIE RUNGE REJOICES<\/p>\n
A la Dalke, fullback Morgen Runge played high school, junior and university football in Alberta before making it to the CFL with the Roughriders.<\/p>\n
There are, however, some differences.<\/p>\n
Runge was undrafted.<\/p>\n
The former Golden Bears and Edmonton Huskies standout took part in three CFL training camps before cracking the Riders\u2019 roster this past June.<\/p>\n
Not only that, \u201cThis is the first championship win of my entire football career,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of times we got to the last big game of the year and just weren\u2019t able to get over that hump.\u201d<\/p>\n
While playing football at Hilltop High School in Whitecourt, Alta., he helped the Cats advance to playoff games against the Grande Prairie St. Joe\u2019s Celtics and Cochrane Cobras, only to lament season-ending losses both times.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t even start playing football until Grade 11. Previously, he had concentrated on hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was playing hockey, we still weren\u2019t very good,\u201d recalls Runge, who turns 28 on Monday. \u201cWe lost a lot of games. I got really good at losing games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Runge has maintained a connection to hockey, but strictly as a fan. At the 2025 Riders\u2019 training camp, he proudly wore an Edmonton Oilers jersey during their second straight surge to the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, he is asked: Did you ever think that you would be in a victory parade before Connor McDavid?<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think so,\u201d Runge says with a laugh. \u201cMcDavid is probably a much better athlete than I am, but I\u2019m still rooting for the guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
ONE GAME, ONE MEMORABLE SEASON<\/p>\n
C.J. Avery registered the Roughriders\u2019 first and fifth defensive tackles of the season.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Alas, it would be his only appearance of the season \u2014\u00a0one that culminated in the fifth Grey Cup victory in Roughriders history.<\/p>\n
His left foot in a walking boot, Avery is cheerful as always despite facing adverse circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me to go through this and then we end up winning the trophy, I can\u2019t ask for anything better. I\u2019m grateful for it and just excited to get myself healthy and ready to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
One off-season milestone will include the shedding of the walking boot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll go in the garbage in a couple of weeks,\u201d Avery states. \u201cWe\u2019re getting that out of the way!\u201d<\/p>\n
MUSIC TO THE EARS<\/p>\n
So, how does one use football parlance to refer to an overused larynx?<\/p>\n
Despite the \u2026. ummm \u2026 upper-body injury, Lake Korte-Moore is delighted to discuss the post-Grey Cup pandemonium.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s good,\u201d the always-cheerful defensive lineman says, barely above a whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One can understand why the vocal chords are not in top form.<\/p>\n
SUNDAY: Roughriders win Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
MONDAY: Korte-Moore celebrates 26th birthday.<\/p>\n
And, oh, did he celebrate!<\/p>\n
He and several teammates (Dalke included) took their new\/old friend \u2014\u00a0the 116-year-old championship trophy \u2014\u00a0to O\u2019Hanlon\u2019s Irish Pub and immersed themselves in the fine art of karaoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll in one, it has been a big party and a great moment,\u201d Korte-Moore says. \u201cJust to get to spend it with the guys in this room, it really means a lot. We\u2019re really family in here, so it has been awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until Monday, what had been his best birthday present?<\/p>\n
\u201cTickets to an NFL game or something with my dad,\u201d Korte-Moore says, \u201cbut nothing compares to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
LUCK OF THE IRISH<\/p>\n
It all seems to fit \u2014\u00a0even the predominantly green colour scheme.<\/p>\n
Korte-Moore, Dalke and friends visit an Irish pub. The Roughriders\u2019 roster includes former Notre Dame Fighting Irish starting quarterback Jack Coan. Perfect.<\/p>\n
Obviously, Coan has experience with the bright lights, but the Grey Cup has its own lustre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s just as big as any football moment in my life,\u201d says Coan, who shared the quarterbacks\u2019 room this past season with Stevens, Jake Maier and 2025 Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we did that, it was just such an amazing feeling. I\u2019d say it has exceeded expectations \u2014\u00a0just seeing the way guys celebrated and how happy everyone was.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019Day) and our coaching staff, totally letting loose and going nuts. It was so cool to see.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe celebration has just been unbelievable. It\u2019s a feeling I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The drill was old hat \u2014 old helmet? \u2014\u00a0for Tommy Nield. Five seasons in the CFL. Three Grey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-299774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}