Saturday\u2019s opener against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).<\/a><\/p>\nWell, OK \u2026 there was some 2025 talk on Thursday \u2014 when middle linebacker Jameer Thurman discussed the design of the recently presented rings.<\/p>\n
He was eminently qualified to address the topic, having served on a ring design committee that also included quarterback Trevor Harris, long snapper Jorgen Hus, Vice-President of Football Operations\/General Manager Jeremy O\u2019Day and Head Coach Corey Mace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great honour to be a part of that, especially with Trevor and Jorgen and Coach Mace and J.O.,\u201d Thurman said. \u201cJust being in that room with all of them, that shows how much they respect me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only downside \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of months of not being able to say anything to anybody,\u201d Thurman said with a laugh. \u201cPeople were asking questions and I\u2019d say, \u2018Oh, yeah, it\u2019s going to look nice.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Understatement!<\/p>\n
The rings, elaborate and precise in design, include:<\/p>\n
A football-shaped, fully encrusted removable top that highlights the team\u2019s logo.
\n14 green baguette stones, signifying each victory (regular season and playoffs) in 2025.
\nAccentuation of the Grey Cup trophy with five stones \u2014 one for each championship won by the Roughriders.
\nA small piece of the 2025 game ball inside the ring.
\nLaser-engraved tick marks for all 14 victories \u2014 celebrating a piece of wood, from a Mosaic Company mine, on which a branded digit is added after each victory.
\n\u201cRider Nation\u201d engraved on the band to acknowledge the invaluable role fan support plays in the team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted it to be different from other rings,\u201d Thurman said. \u201cThat\u2019s why there\u2019s the (game ball) aspect to it. Having that sentimental piece of the football in the ring, there\u2019s a lot of meaning that went into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got ideas from other champions\u2019 rings as well, but I think we came together and did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incorporation of the game ball resulted from a conversation between Harris and Equipment Manager Gordon Gilroy, both of whom became third-time Grey Cup champions when the Roughriders defeated the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 on Nov. 16 at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything had meaning behind it, even the little wheat sheaf behind our numbers,\u201d Thurman noted. \u201cThat showed recognition to the province.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was one detail in particular for which Thurman lobbied.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was big on having the top off, just to show our stadium and different things like that,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to say the stadium (concept) was just me, but I definitely wanted the top off. That was an idea I brought that I saw from another championship ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Specifically that of the Los Angeles Rams \u2014 2022 Super Bowl champions.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles connection was especially fitting because current Roughriders linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr. earned a Super Bowl ring with that edition of the Rams.<\/p>\n
Brooks Jr. had a sneak preview in a way, although the 2025 rings were even less of a mystery to Thurman, Harris, Hus, Mace and O\u2019Day when the presentations were made on May 31. Yet, the surprise was not spoiled in the least.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, you saw Trevor\u2019s face,\u201d Thurman said with a laugh. \u201cI definitely was just like, \u2018Oh, man \u2026 this looks even better in person than it did when we were designing it.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything came together great.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be one final chance for fans to formally celebrate the accomplishments of last season. The Roughriders\u2019 2025 Grey Cup championship banner is to be unveiled shortly before kickoff on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to appreciate every moment that\u2019s presented and that\u2019s in front of you,\u201d Thurman said. \u201cThere\u2019s a timing for everything. Some of those (reflections) happen during the season that we have now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focused on this season. Yes, (2025) is something to be proud of but, at the same time, this is a new year. That stuff doesn\u2019t matter anymore. We\u2019ll forever be part of the legacy of this franchise but, at the same time, we\u2019re trying to add to that and build on that this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Saskatchewan Roughriders are poised to ring in another season. Having received their 2025 Grey Cup rings, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-732358","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\/732358","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=732358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}