“No more film …”: Final gathering bittersweet for 2025 Grey Cup champions

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ season ended with a Grey Cup victory.

But it still ended, period, and that created a bittersweet feeling.

“It still feels like we’ve got more season to play,” long snapper Jorgen Hus said.

“Normally, you get to the end and you’re ready for a rest, but it’s like, ‘I want to keep going.’ We just enjoy each other’s company so much.”

The final formal interaction of the 2025 Roughriders took place on Wednesday, when the locker-room cleanout — colloquially known as “garbage bag day” — and exit meetings were held at Mosaic Stadium.

“I expected it to feel different,” quarterback Trevor Harris said while sitting at a table upon which the Grey Cup was perched.

“I expected garbage bag day to feel more jubilant, but I was sad. This group of guys is the closest team I’ve ever been on. Thinking about not being able to come to work this week, it’s sad to see everybody packing things up.

“My mind went to the next thing. I woke up the next morning, I smiled, and I was like, ‘OK, who are we going to watch film with?’ Then it was, ‘No more film …’

“I texted the quarterback group and said, ‘Guys, do we just get on Zoom and watch film together? Can we arrange that?’

“It’s a different type of sadness but obviously, when you’ve got this guy (the Grey Cup) sitting here, it’s a little bit of a different feel.

“It’s still sad, because you just grow so close to the guys.”

The 39-years-young Harris, who has yet to make a definitive announcement as to whether he will play next season, helped the Roughriders defeat the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 when the 112^th Grey Cup Game was held on Sunday in Winnipeg.

He was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after completing 23 of 27 passes for 302 yards and setting a Grey Cup record for completion percentage (85.2).

“I’m just thankful that we were able to get it done,” Harris said. “Just the sick part about it for me was after the game: ‘What’s next? How can we do it again?’ If there is an ‘again’ … you just don’t know. It’s more about existing in the moment and being able to be thankful.

“But my mind was immediately, ‘When’s the next workout?’ It was just that kind of a sickness that I need to kind of learn to temper a little bit more.”

Tevaughn Campbell made one of the game’s biggest plays, forcing a fumble in a short-yardage situation near the goal line late in the fourth quarter. Fellow Roughriders cornerback Marcus Sayles pounced on the loose football to extinguish what turned out to be the Alouettes’ final realistic chance at scoring a touchdown that could have been punctuated by a game-tying two-point convert.

The pivotal play by Campbell and Sayles took place during the Roughriders’ second consecutive season-ending game in Winnipeg. Saskatchewan advanced to the 2024 Western Final before the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers won 38-22.

The 2025 champions flew home on Monday and were soon greeted by fans outside Mosaic Stadium in the afternoon.

A Grey Cup parade was held on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a celebration outside and inside the Legislative Building. The team held a dinner for all its employees and their families on Tuesday evening.

Then came Wednesday, when many of the final details were tended to and media interviews were conducted.

“It doesn’t feel like a normal garbage bag day where you get sent home early,” Campbell said. “It definitely feels weird, because you’re still leaving your boys.

“You’re still leaving the place where you were for a six-month grind throughout the season. It’s definitely a little sweet and a little sour at the same time.”

Mostly sweet.

“It’s really hard to put into words,” kicker Brett Lauther said. “It really hasn’t fully sunk in, even though it should have.

“I still wake up every day and check my phone and look at pictures to make sure that we actually did it.”

It’s a start.

“We get a little bragging rights for the next six months,” defensive end Malik Carney said, “but come training camp, it’s time to do it again.”