WINNIPEG — It’s going to be a long off-season for Logan Ferland.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 on Sunday night to earn just their fifth Grey Cup title and first since winning it all in Regina in 2013. And the six-foot-four, 300-pound Ferland, the Riders’ starting centre from Melfort, Sask., figures there will be plenty of celebrating in his home province for the next little while.
“It will be six months,” Ferland said with a chuckle. “It’s going to be a long off-season of celebrations.”
Winning a CFL championship is special for any player. But a Saskatchewan native doing so as a Roughrider and being able to bring the Grey Cup back for the province’s rabid fans to celebrate is next level in terms of accomplishment and a feeling of pride.
“This is the dream,” said Ferland. “This has been the dream since I started playing football.
“It’s very hard to fathom, I’m still pinching myself. It’s going to take a while to soak in.”
The ’25 season was already a memorable one for Ferland. Not only was he a CFL all-star, but last week he received the Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Award. It’s presented annually to the Canadian CFL player who best demonstrates the attributes of Canada’s veterans — strength, perseverance, courage, comradeship and community contribution.
Ferland joined the Roughriders in 2019 as a territorial junior player, spending the season on the practice roster while still playing for the Regina Thunder, a Canadian Junior Football League squad. He cracked Saskatchewan’s starting lineup in 2021 and has been a versatile performer, seeing action at left guard before moving to centre.
The Roughriders are slated to return home Monday, with a victory parade planned for Tuesday in Regina.
Riders quarterback Trevor Harris earned his first Grey Cup win as a starting quarterback. Harris, 39, completed his 13th CFL season by completing 23-of-27 passes for 302 yards and securing game MVP honours.
The Grey Cup crown was Harris’s third overall, having been part of championship teams with Toronto (2012) and Ottawa (2016) as a backup.
Harris started the 2018 Grey Cup game for Ottawa but threw three interceptions in a 27-16 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
But Harris’s biggest sense of accomplishment this time around was helping the Riders’ Saskatchewan-born players win a CFL championship.
“I’m especially happy for the guys that grew up in Saskatchewan,” he said. “I’m just so happy for them.”
The Grey Cup title was also a long time coming for Jeremy O’Day, the Riders’ vice-president of football operations/GM. The 51-year-old was the Riders’ assistant GM when they won the ’13 Grey Cup, but the franchise posted consecutive 6-12 records before hiring Corey Mace as head coach after the 2023 campaign.
“This means everything to the province of Saskatchewan,” said O’Day, who has been with the Riders’ organization in various roles since 2011. “This organization has been a championship organization for a long time; we just needed to do our part on the field and bring more Grey Cups home.
“We’re bringing it home. It’s very gratifying, but I’m just super happy for the organization.”
One of the biggest questions facing the Riders now is Harris’s future. It’s unclear if he’ll opt to retire on top or return for a 14th CFL campaign.
Harris is slated to become a CFL free agent in February.
“That’s a good question,” O’Day said. “We’ll talk about that a little later, but I’d love to have Trevor back.
“But I’m just so happy for Trevor because I’ve never been around a guy that’s worked as hard as he has. He’s a consummate professional, just works, works, works, and just never stops.”
The same can be said about Mace. After finishing 9-8-1 in Mace’s first year at the helm, the Riders finished atop the West Division for the first time since 2019 with a CFL-best 12-6 record.
“Corey has been just unbelievable since the day we got him,” O’Day said. “He has never wavered, he’s the same guy we hired … every day he comes to work.
“I can’t say very much more other than he’s just a fantastic coach.”
But while Ferland is anticipating a six-month Grey Cup celebration in Saskatchewan, O’Day is giving himself a short time to relish the championship before returning to the office.
“These guys (players and coaches) can take a little bit longer, but I’ll get back to work (after a day or two),” O’Day said. “But the victory parade is going to be crazy.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
