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FRANK GUNN \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Mace (left) and quarterback Trevor Harris dance during team walk throughs on Saturday ahead of the 112th CFL Grey Cup, in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Something had fallen out of a passing truck and struck his father. It caused the bike to spin out of control and the couple fell into a ravine.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad had a broken neck and back and 75 stitches in his face, and my mom a broken orbital bone in her face, shattered ankle, wrist. And they end up making it,\u201d said Harris, as both his parents sat at the back of the media room at Princess Auto Stadium and smiled proudly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I just remember thinking football\u2019s not this important. I need to go home and be with my family. So I got on the phone with my dad, and the words that he could muster were, \u2018If you come home from playing football, make your face look like mine.\u2019 So although we sacrifice time away from family and what-not, we have to also understand what this game provides for our loved ones as well. They get to watch us live out a dream, which is something that you pinch yourself quite often about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riders receiver Ajou Ajou will be thinking about his mom, Monica Dut, when he runs out of the tunnel to take on the Montreal Alouettes (5 p.m. CT kickoff).<\/p>\n
Dut was born in South Sudan before the Second Sudanese Civil War. More than two million people died during 22 years of conflict. She spent her youth fleeing violence, escaping from town to town, which prevented her from going to school. She eventually immigrated to Canada and moved to Brooks, Alta., shortly after Ajou was born. She couldn\u2019t speak English, so one of the only jobs she could get was working as a labourer at a meat-packing plant.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t FRANK GUNN \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Saskatchewan Roughriders wide receiver Ajou Ajou tries his hand at shooting video during team walkthroughs on Saturday ahead of the 112th CFL Grey Cup, in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n \u201cShe showed me when adversity hits, you just keep going,\u201d said Ajou. \u201cShe showed me what the meaning of relentless is. Yeah, I\u2019m gonna play for her, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Dut\u2019s resilience is what allowed her son to dream big.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was five, I was like \u2018I want to go to the NFL\u2019 so I was always (dreaming about the) Super Bowl,\u201d said Ajou, 23, who was cut by the Indianapolis Colts at the end of August.<\/p>\n \u201cBut be great where your feet are. It\u2019s the same thing for me. We\u2019re about to be champions. Like, we just gotta go out and do what we gotta do. It\u2019s gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow Riders receiver Mitchell Picton was overcome with emotion and could barely finish his sentence when discussing what playing in the Grey Cup means for him and his loved ones. The 30-year-old from Regina has been in and out of the lineup this season but got word on Friday that he\u2019ll be dressing as pass catchers KeeSean Johnson and Joe Robustelli are out with injuries.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Darryl Dyck \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 Mitch Picton (81) and Jack Coan (14) walk off the field after a walkthrough on Saturday ahead of the 112th CFL Grey Cup, in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n His cousin Noah \u2014 his former quarterback during his time with the University of Regina Rams \u2014 texted him early Saturday to say he\u2019ll be hitting Highway 1 on Sunday. Picton\u2019s wife, parents, and brother will also be in the stands.<\/p>\n \u201cWe certainly make sacrifices to play this game. I think about family making sacrifices for us. They\u2019re always there. They\u2019ve been all over the country coming to watch me play football,\u201d said Picton while fighting back tears.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re all very special to me. It\u2019s going to be cool. There\u2019s going to be a lot of Picton jerseys, a lot of 81 out there in the stands, and that\u2019s something I\u2019ve very excited for. Very thankful for.\u201d<\/p>\n RIDERS WON\u2019T BE HAMSTRUNG<\/p>\n Will Als quarterback Davis Alexander be slowed down by his hamstring injury ?<\/p>\n That\u2019s been the question of the week, but if you ask the Riders, they\u2019re not wasting their energy thinking about it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Darryl Dyck \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander talks on the phone during a walkthrough on Saturday ahead of the 112th CFL Grey Cup, in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n \u201cI told the guys to be prepared for everybody\u2019s best,\u201d said Riders head coach Corey Mace.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cWhoever\u2019s out there for them, whoever\u2019s out there for us, there\u2019s going to be multiple people banged up. There are tons that you guys don\u2019t even know about. We expect everybody\u2019s best. So, I\u2019d be expecting him to be doing what he does. It\u2019s the defence\u2019s job to prevent him from doing that, not his hamstring.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re also not sweating his perfect 13-0 career record as a starter.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, how many games has he played? I can see if he\u2019s done it for like two or three seasons,\u201d said veteran defensive tackle Micah Johnson.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, good job, good job. But every week is different. It\u2019s a week-to-week game, a week-to-week league. You can be beat on any week. I think to me, it\u2019s more of an embodiment of what (Als head coach) Jason Maas has done and has built around him.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Darryl Dyck \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Montreal Alouettes\u2019 Dylan Wynn tosses his daughter Charlee, 5, into the air during a walkthrough on Saturday ahead of the 112th CFL Grey Cup, in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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