Riders rename team meeting room in honour of Jim Hopson

The Saskatchewan Roughriders recently honoured a longtime staple of the organization: former team president and CEO Jim Hopson.

In a video posted by the team Monday, the Riders said a small ceremony to formally change the name of the Football Operations Auditorium took place with Hopson surrounded by his family on Feb. 15.

Hopson, who played offensive line for the green and white for four seasons in the 1970s, was at the helm of the Riders organization from 2005 to 2015.

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“Right from the beginning, I started talking about being the flagship franchise in the CFL, and guess what, that’s who we became,” Hopson said in his speech at the ceremony. “We became that, not because of me, but because right from the beginning, in every leadership role I’ve had, I’ve believed that if you wanted to get somewhere fast, you go by yourself. If you want to get somewhere and do something, you take a lot of people with you.”

“We took a lot of people with us.”

“When we had the discussion of naming this room after Jim, I thought it would be no better place,” General Manager and Vice President of Football Operations Jeremy O’Day said. “This is the room that our team comes together as a team, every single day. The players are going to walk by this plaque, every single day.”

During Hopson’s tenure, the Riders appeared in four Grey Cup games, winning two. He also helped facilitate the planning process for new Mosaic Stadium, which opened in 2017. He’s been inducted into both the Riders Plaza of Honour and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Hopson is currently battling colon cancer.