Alouettes’ Rice seeks Grey Cup three-peat

Landon Rice had fully immersed himself in his construction business when the Montreal Alouettes called last month to add a player whose built a reputation for being nastier than a rusty nail.

At the time, the 37-year-old Brandon product was, by his account, “absolutely” retired, renovating homes around Hamilton, Ont., where he, his wife and four children have called home for the last decade.

However, with the Alouettes low on Canadian talent in the trenches, Rice, who spent four years (2019-23) in La belle province, became a sensible target on the free agency wire.

“When the names were floating around of who to bring in, he was on top of the list, and everybody was excited to bring him back. So that tells you all you need to know about the why, and very grateful and thankful to have him,” said Alouettes head coach Jason Maas. “And he’s in shape. Obviously, renovating keeps you in shape.”

Rice rebuffed other offers that came his way earlier in the year. With a dozen years of action and a pair of Grey Cups already to his name — and business booming — it would take something special to pull him out of retirement.

“I figured I’d take the Montreal vacation, hang with the boys and look where it went to — exactly where we thought it was gonna go,” he said.

Now Rice finds himself again on the precipice of going from ratchets to rings. He will seek a third straight championship when the Alouettes face the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday.

Should it come to fruition, he would become just the fifth player in CFL history to go back-to-back-to-back with two different teams (Montreal and Toronto). However, Rice would be just the first to win his third with the same team he won his first.

It would be an interesting final send-off in what’s been a career filled with fortune. A 2007 Vanier Cup champion with the University of Manitoba Bisons, Rice has only missed the playoffs once in his 13-year pro career (2018).

“After last week, some guys were coming up rubbing my head for some good luck. I’m the lucky charm around here, but you know, it’s whatever they need to believe, whatever I can do for the team — that’s why I’m here.”

His success isn’t by mistake. Rice has built his career through reliability and a mean streak that would put some of the toughest linemen to shame. He takes pride in his hard-nosed play style, and his teammates take notice.

“I think it’s something I got to develop even more. I mean, he’s nasty,” said right tackle Tiger Shanks. “You should see him on the field, even in practice, when we’re going against our own team. It’s like you don’t want to go full, but you can tell he’s nasty, you can tell his style of play, and that’s something I need.

“I’ve been working really hard to try to get into my game. That’s something that actually he told me about when he first got here, he was like, ‘We need to see some of that nasty.’”

On Sunday, it won’t be three weeks since Rice signed with the Alouettes. He’s largely relied on muscle memory and his God-given strength in that time, dressing for both of the club’s playoff games, serving as a backup and part of the wall that makes up the field goal unit.

Save for injury, he won’t be needed on offence in the Grey Cup. He’ll more than make up for it on the sidelines where he’s quickly become a trusted mentor to his teammates.

Shanks, who is enjoying a stellar rookie season, said he can’t look back on this campaign without crediting the help Rice has delivered in a short period.

“I think part of the reason that they brought him in was so that I can just learn as much as I possibly can because, obviously, he’s a vet, he’s been in the league for so long, and he has so much information,” Shanks said. “I feel like he takes it to even another level, because it’s like a coach can tell you one thing, but when you can see someone actually tell you something, and then do it on the field themselves, because I’m a visual learner, it’s helped me a lot.”

Returning to the sidelines after his playing days as a coach is something Rice has contemplated. He has a few options to weigh, including his business and a biology degree from the University of Manitoba that he hasn’t yet used.

“There’s definitely been some interest for me to get into the coaching game. It’s a conversation I’ll have to have with my family, because I know I could be a good one,” Rice said.

“I could turn some young O-linemen into real nasty dogs. But we’ll see how it goes, because it’s a big-time commitment, a lot of time away from the family, and that’s the thing that makes me hesitate. I got four young kids. I want to be there for them, primarily.”

Rice has 10 seats reserved for family, some of whom still live in Brandon. Among them will be mom, dad, wife and in-laws.

He confirmed that Sunday will be the last time he puts on the pads, spelling the end of a storied career.

What a way it would be for the Manitoban to go out.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Rice said. “To be able to go back-to-back, even last year with the Argonauts, they picked me up Week 4, and it was sort of a Cinderella run there, but to be able to come back and do it with these guys that I won with in ’23, on home soil, for me, it’s very special.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam