Until Sunday, my ring collection consisted of wedding and onion.<\/p>\n
Then, to my continuing astonishment, I was presented with a 2025 Grey Cup ring.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, I have a net worth \u2014 beyond the value of the chemicals in my 62-year-old, er, body.<\/p>\n
And now I am \u2026 wait for it \u2026 moderately popular!<\/p>\n
Individuals who, once upon a time, rudely bruised this future scribbler by touching him with a 10-foot pole are clamouring to see a gleaming Grey Cup ring, up close.<\/p>\n
(ADVISORY: There is a fee.)<\/p>\n
The curiosity extended to my wife, who returned to Regina on Wednesday after spending a week visiting her family in Toronto.<\/p>\n
Upon entering our sprawling, 200-square-foot estate, she had two questions:<\/p>\n
(1) You still haven\u2019t unpacked from Saskatoon? (No.)<\/p>\n
(2) Can I see your Grey Cup ring? (See again: Fee.)<\/p>\n
Due to Chryssoula\u2019s absence, I attended Sunday\u2019s gala ring ceremony without a plus-one, unless you include my extra chin.<\/p>\n
Approaching the Hotel Saskatchewan\u2019s Regency Ballroom, I was directed toward my designated spot at Table 17.<\/p>\n
The evening was already perfect. After all, Joey Walters wore No. 17. Nice!<\/p>\n
Everyone in attendance was welcomed to their table by a gift-wrapped box and the following instructions: NO PEEKING!<\/p>\n
When the moment finally arrived, I froze. I was too busy watching everyone else open their ring boxes. Trevor Harris, seated at a neighbouring table, marvelled at his ring while his wife, Kalie, ensured that the unveiling was documented on video.<\/p>\n
My wrinkled head spun as I scanned the room and saw everyone\u2019s eyes widen.<\/p>\n
Then it hit me: \u201cOh yeah \u2026 I get one, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was, and still is, a blur.<\/p>\n
How does one process this?<\/p>\n
As a humble writer, one is accustomed to documenting the accomplishments of those who win championships, trophies, etc.<\/p>\n
But to actually be a ring recipient? I don\u2019t expect that to ever sink in.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want it to sink in, for that matter.<\/p>\n
At this advanced age, it is refreshing to approach something with child-like awe and incredulity.<\/p>\n
There is also the accompanying reality.<\/p>\n
If I hadn\u2019t written a word about the Roughriders \u2014 and for the Roughriders \u2014 the team would still have won a Grey Cup championship in 2025.<\/p>\n
It is a testament to the organization that the entire staff is part of the ring presentations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in this room is here because they were a major part of a special year \u2014 something that really matters to our province and to our fans,\u201d President-CEO Craig Reynolds told the gathering.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are now linked forever with everyone in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wow \u2026<\/p>\n
As my wife can attest, there is a lot to unpack.<\/p>\n
FACTS AND FIGURES<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the CFL crunched the numbers and distributed the following roster breakdown:<\/p>\n
Total players on CFL rosters: 479.<\/p>\n
Veterans: 398 (83%).<\/p>\n
First-year players: 81 (17%).<\/p>\n
Average games of CFL experience: 42.<\/p>\n
Average number of starts: 24.<\/p>\n
Average age: 28.1.<\/p>\n
National players: 225.<\/p>\n
American players: 237.<\/p>\n
Global players: 17.<\/p>\n
Players from U Sports: 142 (29.6%).<\/p>\n
Now, how do the Roughriders stack up in those categories?<\/p>\n
Total players: 53 (47 on active roster; three on one-game injured list; three on six-game injured list); practice-roster players excluded.<\/p>\n
Veterans: 42 (79.2%).<\/p>\n
First-year players: 11 (20.8%).<\/p>\n
Average games of CFL experience: 43.<\/p>\n
Average number of starts: 23.<\/p>\n
Average age: 27.9.<\/p>\n
National players: 26.<\/p>\n
American players: 25.<\/p>\n
Global players: 2.<\/p>\n
Players from U Sports: 16 (30.2%).<\/p>\n
MASTERS AT WORK<\/p>\n
Legendary Roughriders receiver Hugh Campbell once wrote a thesis on the fine art of catching the football.<\/p>\n
One of the players \u201cGluey Hughie\u201d studied was Baltimore Colts great Raymond Berry, who in 1994 was named to the NFL\u2019s 75th-anniversary team.<\/p>\n
Berry was 93 when he passed away on May 25 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.<\/p>\n
The late Bob Shaw had the distinction of coaching Berry and Campbell. Shaw coached the ends \u2014 now known as receivers \u2014 with the Colts in 1957 and 1958. He was the Roughriders\u2019 field boss in 1963 and 1964.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaymond Berry wasn\u2019t a fast receiver. Neither was Hughie Campbell,\u201d Shaw told me in a Dec. 14, 2007 interview. \u201cThey were both possession receivers and pattern-runners \u2014 not fast, but good pattern-runners \u2014 and had great hands. They caught everything that was thrown at them.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Berry caught most of his passes from Johnny Unitas. All but a handful of Campbell\u2019s receptions resulted from a collaboration with Ron Lancaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cBerry would be the guy you would compare him to back then, or maybe a Steve Largent after that,\u201d Lancaster said on Dec. 10, 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cHugh didn\u2019t have a lot of speed, but all I know is this: When he caught the ball behind a defensive back, he always got to the end zone first and the only guy who came close to beating him all the time was the official. The defensive backs couldn\u2019t catch him, but that official would run with him right down the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berry played in one of the NFL\u2019s all-time classics \u2014 the 1958 championship game against the New York Giants. He caught 12 passes for 178 yards and one TD to help Baltimore win 23-17 at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n
Late in the fourth quarter, Unitas and Berry connected three times for 62 yards to set up a game-tying, 20-yard field goal by Steve Myhra with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Myhra, who also played linebacker, concluded his professional football career in 1962 when he played in five games with Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
He registered 22 points, on two field goals, 12 converts and four singles.<\/p>\n
Myhra added two interceptions \u2014 both in a 29-21 victory over the host Ottawa Rough Riders on Oct. 13, 1962.<\/p>\n
Both picks were at the expense of Ottawa quarterback Russ Jackson. Also behind centre for the eastern Riders for part of that game: Ron Lancaster.<\/p>\n
THE MAGIC NUMBER: 417<\/p>\n
Harris, the reigning Grey Cup MVP, is among 105 starting quarterbacks in Roughriders history.<\/p>\n
He and two fellow returnees \u2014 Jack Coan and Tommy Stevens \u2014 are among 175 quarterbacks who have dressed for at least one regular-season or playoff game since the franchise\u2019s inception as the Regina Rugby Club in 1910.<\/p>\n
The Roughriders\u2019 2026 quarterbacks\u2019 room also includes Brayden Schager. He spent part of October on the practice roster before attending training camp and seeing pre-season action in May of this year.<\/p>\n
Schager\u2019s good name on appears on an expansive list of 417 quarterbacks who have spent any amount of time with the Roughriders or an early-1940s military team over 113 seasons.<\/p>\n
Alphabetically, they range from Alli Abrew (who dressed for two games in 1999) to former NFL star Vince Young (2017 training camp).<\/p>\n
Young, a former University of Texas Longhorns standout, is among five quarterbacks to try out for the Roughriders after finishing first, second or third in Heisman Trophy voting. Young was second in 2005. The others?<\/p>\n
Pat Sullivan, Auburn: 1971 winner; 14-day trial with Roughriders in 1977.<\/p>\n
Major Harris, West Virginia: Third place in 1989; 1991 practice roster.<\/p>\n
Michael Bishop, Kansas State: Second in 1998; appeared in 11 games (playoffs included) with 2009 Roughriders.<\/p>\n
Colt Brennan, Hawaii: Third in 2007; 2012 training camp.<\/p>\n
Brennan and Schager are among five former University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors signal-callers to have spent time with the Roughriders. The others: Bernard Quarles (1985-86), Warren Jones (1992-96) and Bryant Moniz (2016).<\/p>\n
A sixth Hawaii alumnus, Shane Austin, signed with the Roughriders in 2016 but was released before training camp.<\/p>\n
Moniz, from Wahiawa, is the only Hawaiian-born member of that group.<\/p>\n
The Roughriders\u2019 lengthy list of quarterbacks includes three other quarterbacks who hail from Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Most memorably, there is Joe Paopao, who was the Roughriders\u2019 primary starter in 1984, 1985 and 1986.<\/p>\n
Like Paopao, John Coen and Pat Silva were born in Honolulu.<\/p>\n
So, yes, the Roughriders\u2019 quarterbacking history includes John Coen (training camp 1974) and Jack Coan (2024 to present).<\/p>\n
John Coen arrived with a catchy nickname \u2014 Cyclone Coen \u2014 after starring at Central Washington.<\/p>\n
Silva, a fellow Hawaiian, also made the Roughriders\u2019 all-time all-moniker team after graduating from Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon and being placed on a 14-day trial by Saskatchewan in July of 1980.<\/p>\n
All hail The Silva Bullet!<\/p>\n
Other notable nicknames:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Joe (747) Adams (1982-83).<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Throwin\u2019 Samoan (Paopao).<\/p>\n
\u2022 Neil J. (Piffles) Taylor \u2026 an automatic choice!<\/p>\n
\u2022 Round Mound of Touchdown (Bruce Eugene).<\/p>\n
Listed by the Roughriders at 6-foot-0 and 262 pounds, Eugene spent three weeks on the practice roster in the summer of 2006.<\/p>\n
Eugene threw 140 touchdown passes during his standout college career at Grambling State.<\/p>\n
He was only a handful of pounds shy of being the heaviest quarterback in Roughriders history. Neo Aoga (6-foot-4, 265 pounds) dressed as a backup for two CFL games in 2001.<\/p>\n
(The tallest quarterbacks in Roughriders history? Jake Dolegala and Paxton Lynch, at 6-foot-7.)<\/p>\n
Aoga is the only Roughriders quarterback to hail from American Samoa.<\/p>\n
Canada, the United States and American Samoa are among nine countries to have produced a Roughriders quarterback. See also:<\/p>\n
Austria: Nick Blum, a quarterback and defensive back, dressed for 11 games in 1948.<\/p>\n
China: Former USC Trojans pivot Frank Hall (1958 training camp) was born in Tsingtao.<\/p>\n
England: Rufus (Rufie) Middleton, who started one game at quarterback for the Regina Rugby Club in 1923, was born in Spilsby, England.<\/p>\n
Scotland: Ralph Schoenfeld, who attended training camp with Saskatchewan in 1966 and 1967, was born in Sussex, Germany. He subsequently lived in South America for eight years before his family moved to Saskatoon. Schoenfeld, who starred for the Aden Bowman Bears and Saskatoon Hilltops, later became a successful football and basketball coach. He entered the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.<\/p>\n
Germany: George Kunyckyj was selected by Saskatchewan in Round 6 (52nd overall) of the 1970 CFL Draft. He attended training camp with the Green and White that year. He is a member of the Brandon University Sports Hall of Fame (2015) and the Manitoba Football Hall of Fame (2023). His surname, by the way, is pronounced \u201cKiniski.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scotland: Dave Syme \u2014 born in Falkirk, Scotland \u2014 was a prominent passer at Simon Fraser before entering the CFL with Edmonton in 1972. He was Ron Lancaster\u2019s backup in 1976. Syme retired from football in May of 1977, at age 26, to begin what turned out to be a highly successful law career. Syme\u2019s final CFL pass produced a touchdown \u2014 a 34-yarder to Rhett Dawson in a 34-3 victory over the visiting Toronto Argonauts on Oct. 10, 1976.<\/p>\n
How\u2019s that for an ending?!<\/p>\n
(Well, almost \u2026)<\/p>\n
ROLL CREDITS \u2026<\/p>\n
\u2022 Nice people who deserve a plug: Jarrod Livingstone, Heather Stark, Alyssa McLellan, Arielle Zerr, Ken Linnen, John Kerr, Ron Jones, Lovella Jones, Barry Taman, Ian Hamilton, Tim Switzer, Leah Sharpe, Emory Switzer, Benoit Marion, Hugh Campbell, Kenda Richards, Ralph Schoenfeld, Dr. Kristen Fink, Deidra Dionne, Andrew Bard, David Masuhara, Rebecca Mills, Mark Habicht, Elaine Poley, Bob Poley, Wayne Young, Steve Daniel, and Jeff Krever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until Sunday, my ring collection consisted of wedding and onion. Then, to my continuing astonishment, I was presented…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-719489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719489","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=719489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}