Banner year in QB’s sights?
Riders happy to have Durant back this season
Darian Durant already has a banner on the side of Mosaic Stadium recognizing his contributions to the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2013 championship season.
Whether the Riders’ franchise quarterback has another banner season in 2016 remains to be seen.
“That’s going to be something that the outside world makes a judgment on,’’ Durant said after Wednesday’s walk through at Mosaic Stadium. “For me, I just have to play football. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career and it doesn’t make it any different now.’’
Durant and the Riders are to open the 2016 CFL regular season on Thursday by playing host to the Toronto Argonauts (8 p.m., TSN, CKRM). The contest marks the first regular-season game for Durant’s banner outside Mosaic Stadium.
The banners were raised in 2006 to commemorate the team’s 40th anniversary of the Riders’ first Grey Cup win and featured Ron Lancaster and George Reed. Those legends were replaced in 2012 by Kent Austin and Roger Aldag. Earlier this year, Durant’s image and another of Lancaster were raised.
Durant, who is pictured with the Grey Cup shortly after the Riders beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 4523 in the 2013 Grey Cup game at Mosaic Stadium, said he considered the honour for a couple of days before agreeing to have his image raised at Mosaic Stadium.
“It’s for guys like Lancaster, Reed, Austin and Bobby Jurasin, who are legends within this organization,’’ Durant said. “I don’t think any current players have been featured in that type of way. For that to happen, I had to let it sink in and think about it. I decided that more than anything it was a great opportunity for myself to be recognized and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’’
Durant is the first active Riders player to be honoured. Austin’s banner was raised in 2012 when he was the head coach of the TigerCats. The banner paid tribute to the veteran quarterback who led the Riders to the 1989 Grey Cup title.
Jarious Jackson, who’s now the Riders’ quarterbacks coach, felt if any player can handle having a three-storey banner of himself outside his home stadium, it was the 33-year-old Durant.
“It’s a big accomplishment and my hat goes off to him for everything that he has accomplished throughout his career,’’ Jackson said.
“This is one of those organizations or cities where that happens with guys on cereal boxes or potato-chip bags. It’s the market that we’re in and Darian has done a great job of carrying this team on his shoulders for years and years. We’re trying to make him understand that he’s just another piece to the puzzle.’’
Durant’s importance to the Riders was underscored by the team’s performance over the past two seasons with their quarterback on the sideline.
The Riders have a 5-21 record since Durant suffered seasonending injuries in 2014, when he tore a tendon in his right elbow and in 2015, when he ruptured his left Achilles tendon in the first second quarter of the regular-season opener.
The return of a healthy Durant to the Riders’ roster has increased the excitement of the Riders, who are finally beginning the season after opening with a bye week.
“It’s a big deal in terms of what Darian brings,’’ said veteran guard Brendon LaBatte.
“He has been a veteran in the league for a long time and he has played in a lot of big games and seen a lot of defences. From that aspect, you get to the more emotional aspects when you have a guy who has gone through what he has gone through and you know the work that he has put in to get himself back into the situation.
“It’s an exciting time for everybody, but especially for him to go back out there and continue to live the dream.’’