When Scott Schultz was a young boy living in Moose Jaw, he always dreamt about winning the Grey Cup. That dream came true when he was part of the 2007 Saskatchewan Roughriders team that won the iconic football trophy.
Five years later, Schultz was able to look at and stand next to the Grey Cup once again as it was in Moose Jaw as part of the CFL Grey Cup 100 Tour on Thursday.
“It is exciting. This is where I grew up and this is something that I dreamed about…winning a Grey Cup,” said Schultz reminiscing of 2007. “To do it with the home team was just tremendous.”
The Grey Cup is 100 years old and is celebrating its history with a 100 stop, 10-week train tour across the country. The train included a special museum car that captures the history of the league, a car that celebrated the teams and locker room in the Canadian Football League and a train that showcased the Grey Cup.
“What a unique idea and what a way to get that out to the fans and let them have the experience,” said Schultz. “There is so much history in 100 years that is just so rich. It is just a shame that there hasn’t been a more accessible way to go and be a part of it. Bringing the train through and showing all the artifacts and the stories is tremendous. You have to give the CFL a tip of the cap for coming up with this initiative.”
Hundreds of fans dressed in Rider green flowed into the Canadian Pacific Railway yard on Manitoba Expressway West to get a take a tour through the train, get their picture taken with the Grey Cup and get some autographs from former Riders Schultz, Matt Dominguez and George Reed.
“I didn’t know what to expect, I only saw it on TSN, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to get out of that. It was pretty cool and I’m glad I got to go through it,” said Brad Rose after taking the tour. “It was awesome to see some of the sports equipment, the stars off each team and which teams have dominated over the years.”
Mayor Glenn Hagel gave a ceremonial speech to kick of the festivities at noon and was excited what the Grey Cup coming to the Friendly City would have on the younger generations.
“I think we have a good minor football league and program here and that has to be incredibly inspirational for the little guys and gals to see the holy grail come through their city,” said Hagel. “It is a way to let the kids who are playing football see that this is a part of our national sport culture.”
The train tour was launched Sept. 7 in Vancouver and will span 72 days, concluding on Nov. 25 when the Grey Cup game takes place in Toronto.
