Riders Nation embraces Humboldt community
The partnership between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Humboldt Broncos is one born of tragedy.
Representatives from the Roughriders connected with the Broncos shortly after an April 6 collision left 16 of the 29 people on the Broncos’ team bus dead. The Riders offered whatever they could in terms of support for the community and all of those involved with the SJHL team.
One of the ideas presented was designating a regular-season game “Humboldt Strong.” More than 200 people with ties to the collision were at Saturday’s 23-17 loss to the Montreal Alouettes.
The list of people invited by the Riders included surviving players, their immediate and extended families, billet families, members of the community and first responders.
“You know what it’s like being a Saskatchewan person — they reach out right away and they just want to help and they want to do everything they can to support,” Broncos president Kevin Garinger said in advance of Saturday’s game.
“That’s ultimately what happened here. (The Riders) reached out early on and said, ‘We want to do something, but we didn’t want to pressure anybody, and we want to take our time with it.’ Lo and behold, this is what they had in mind.
“We’re overwhelmed by the support that has happened throughout this province, our nation and the world, for that matter. This is another tremendous way that we get supported by those who we care deeply about in our football world and that’s our Saskatchewan Roughriders.”
Craig Reynolds, the Riders’ president and CEO, felt “honoured and privileged” to be able to support the Broncos with Saturday’s tribute game.
“It’s just showing support for the Broncos and the community of Humboldt,” Reynolds said. “There’s a ‘thank-you’ element, too, because we invited a lot of first responders to the game. It’s thanking them for what they did on that terrible night. Mostly it’s for Rider Nation to wrap their arms around Humboldt and the Broncos.”
Reynolds donned a Broncos jersey for the pre-game media conference in front of Mosaic Stadium. Garinger wore a Roughriders jersey with “Broncos” on the name plate.
“It represents our organization and 29 amazing young people who were on that bus,” Garinger said when asked about wearing a Riders jersey. “It means (a lot) for the community of Humboldt and for the community of Saskatchewan in so many ways.
“It’s also about moving forward. There are a lot of emotions that come from wearing the green and white of your Roughriders, especially on game day. Because of the significance of (Saturday), it’s very emotional.”
The Riders paid tribute in many ways, including a pre-game video. A Broncos jersey was placed on the 13th-man statue outside Mosaic Stadium. There was signage throughout the stadium dedicated to Humboldt Strong and fans were given green and white ribbons — Humboldt’s colours — while entering the stadium.
The pre-game ceremony included defensive tackle Eddie Steele leading the Riders onto the field while waving a Humboldt Strong flag. The coin for the traditional coin toss was replaced with a Broncos puck.
Riders slotback Naaman Roosevelt wore Bronco-themed football cleats with “Humboldt Strong ” etched on the side.
“The organization did a fabulous job of setting everything up and I just wanted to help in any way that I could,” Roosevelt said. “The cleats were just a small something that I could do to show my support.”