Roots, resilience, and the road to the Grey Cup

It’s the final media availability session before Grey Cup Sunday and the topic of conversation had little to do with X’s and O’s, or even football in general.

Instead, it was about what it took to reach the sport’s biggest stage in Canada, and for most, it can be summed up in two words — family and sacrifice.

Just ask Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris, who told a story on Saturday about a dreaded phone call he received on June 2, 2012. The now 39-year-old was a rookie with the Toronto Argonauts at the time when his parents, Tom and Suzanne, were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.

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.

“My 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,” said Harris, as both his parents sat at the back of the media room at Princess Auto Stadium and smiled proudly.

“And I just remember thinking football’s 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, ‘If you come home from playing football, make your face look like mine.’ 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.”

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).

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’t speak English, so one of the only jobs she could get was working as a labourer at a meat-packing plant.

“She showed me when adversity hits, you just keep going,” said Ajou. “She showed me what the meaning of relentless is. Yeah, I’m gonna play for her, for sure.”

Dut’s resilience is what allowed her son to dream big.

“When I was five, I was like ‘I want to go to the NFL’ so I was always (dreaming about the) Super Bowl,” said Ajou, 23, who was cut by the Indianapolis Colts at the end of August.

“But be great where your feet are. It’s the same thing for me. We’re about to be champions. Like, we just gotta go out and do what we gotta do. It’s gonna happen.”

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’ll be dressing as pass catchers KeeSean Johnson and Joe Robustelli are out with injuries.

His cousin Noah — his former quarterback during his time with the University of Regina Rams — texted him early Saturday to say he’ll be hitting Highway 1 on Sunday. Picton’s wife, parents, and brother will also be in the stands.

“We certainly make sacrifices to play this game. I think about family making sacrifices for us. They’re always there. They’ve been all over the country coming to watch me play football,” said Picton while fighting back tears.

“They’re all very special to me. It’s going to be cool. There’s going to be a lot of Picton jerseys, a lot of 81 out there in the stands, and that’s something I’ve very excited for. Very thankful for.”

RIDERS WON’T BE HAMSTRUNG

Will Als quarterback Davis Alexander be slowed down by his hamstring injury ?

That’s been the question of the week, but if you ask the Riders, they’re not wasting their energy thinking about it.

“I told the guys to be prepared for everybody’s best,” said Riders head coach Corey Mace.

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“Whoever’s out there for them, whoever’s out there for us, there’s going to be multiple people banged up. There are tons that you guys don’t even know about. We expect everybody’s best. So, I’d be expecting him to be doing what he does. It’s the defence’s job to prevent him from doing that, not his hamstring.”

They’re also not sweating his perfect 13-0 career record as a starter.

“I mean, how many games has he played? I can see if he’s done it for like two or three seasons,” said veteran defensive tackle Micah Johnson.

“I mean, good job, good job. But every week is different. It’s a week-to-week game, a week-to-week league. You can be beat on any week. I think to me, it’s more of an embodiment of what (Als head coach) Jason Maas has done and has built around him.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Taylor Allen
Reporter

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.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.