'Seems like yesterday': Riders 2013 Championship team returns to Saskatchewan

On Saturday night when the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, members from the 2013 Grey Cup Championship team will be in attendance.

The team is part of the 2023 class that will be inducted into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour.

“To be able to relive all these things that we lived, it just seem like we saw each other yesterday to be honest. Nothing has changed. We have more grey hairs than we did before but everything else is pretty much the same. It’s good to be back,” said Chris Milo, a member of the 2013 team, joyfully.

The 2013 Grey Cup game is regarded as one of the greatest moments in Saskatchewan Roughriders history when the team defeated the Tiger-Cats 45-23 at Mosaic Stadium.

“How can you not have that be the most memorable time in your life? As an athlete, you don’t win championships very often, it’s very difficult no matter what level you play at. To win a championship, for us to do it on a pro level, at a special time [here], like it’s amazing,” exclaimed 2013 team member, Tyron Brackenridge.

The team knew what was at stake heading into that season, to host the Grey Cup on home soil. However, they admitted they knew early on that they had something special that could carry them to the championship game.

“The energy was there from the beginning. I think I could keep saying that but honestly in camp, there was just a buzz,” said 2013 champion, Terrell Maze.

“From the moment the coaches put that team together and we looked around the locker room, you [thought] we could do something here and possibly be great and become legends. We went out there and did it,” said Kory Sheets, former running back for the Riders.

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That season, the Riders had to get past the BC Lions in the Western Semi-Final then the Calgary Stampeders in the Western Final before they could book their ticket to the big game. When the team knocked both of those opponents out of contention, they already felt the Grey Cup was theirs.

“That right there [in Calgary] was the big game for us. To go into Calgary and do what we did, I think we have seven takeaways, they had no chance. And we knew from there, Hamilton had absolutely no chance,” said Brackenridge.

Now ten years later, the team will be inducted into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour on Saturday at the Riders’ home game against the Tiger-Cats.

An autograph session will be held prior to the game at the Coors Light Party in the Park with members of the 2013 team. A special pre-game event will be held before kickoff and the induction ceremony will take place at halftime.