Roughriders share ‘glimpse of the cup,’ welcomed home as Grey Cup champions

Fresh off their fifth Grey Cup title, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were met by huge crowds Monday. Jacob Carr reports.

The morning after the Saskatchewan Roughriders hoisted the Grey Cup as green and white confetti rained down upon them at Princess Auto Stadium, fans of the team were eager to get their hands on some Grey Cup merchandise at the Rider Store in Regina.

Whether it was Grey Cup Champions hat or t-shirts, the clothing was flying off the shelves.

And as players made their way back to Mosaic Stadium, Rider Nation was there to greet them with open arms; A.J. Ouellette received an embrace from a fan while Sam Emilus and Trevor Harris posed for pictures with some of the “13th Man” contingent.

For Pat Janex, Monday morning was an occasion he couldn’t miss.

“I went down to Winnipeg on Friday, drove from Saskatoon eight hours, but I had to come here on my way back home. I had to come support them. My head is a little bit sore, not much sleep from last night, my voice is a little groggy. Go Riders go! We are the champs of 2025!”

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It was then time for some of Riders to deliver speeches and send the crowd of a few hundred onlookers into a frenzy.

“Since training camp, we wanted to make sure that we put out a product that represents you, the people of Saskatchewan. Work hard, play hard and [expletive] win hard baby, let’s go!” shouted Riders head coach Corey Mace.

Riders receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker led the fans in a chant of a popular Beastie Boys song.

“You gotta fight, for your right, to party!” he exclaimed as Rider Nation shouted right along with him.

Harris, the Most Valuable Player of the 112th Grey Cup, told fans: “This Grey Cup is yours as well. Anybody that wants to say we only got five of these, well guess what? How many did they get this year? None, this is our trophy!”

Emilus, who was named the game’s Most Outstanding Canadian, led the crowd in a “Let’s go Riders” chant before fellow receiver Ajou Ajou proclaimed “Guess what? I need you to cheer real loud when I say this: we’re going to do it again!”

Riders senior journalist and historian Rob Vanstone told CTV News that this year’s win is special to him, although he wishes he could share it with his mother Helen, who was also an avid fan of the Green and White.

He also said that despite covering local sports for over 40 years, Tuesday’s Grey Cup parade will be his first when it comes to the Riders.

“I’ve been to Grey Cup parades with my mom, in Toronto in ’76 and ’78, Montreal in ’79 and ’81, Toronto in ’80, the Grey Cup parade preceding the game. I’ve never been to a Riders Grey Cup parade,” he shared.

“So I’ll take one off of the bucket list tomorrow.”