Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees share Riders roots

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Defensive end Vince Goldsmith and slotback Weston Dressler.started their Canadian Football Hall of Fame careers with the Saskatchewan Roughriders a generation apart, while somewhere in the middle Ray Jauch ended his legendary CFL coaching career with the same franchise.

“When you see the (2024 Hall induction) class get announced and read up on some of the guys who were a little before my time and see what they’ve done, it’s pretty cool to have that connection,” said Dressler, who played in three Grey Cups with Saskatchewan between 2008-15 and won the 2013 championship before winding down his career with three seasons in Winnipeg. “That’s almost the CFL as a whole; it’s a small league so you feel that connection, even with the guys you don’t play with. It’s unique and special.

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“I look back at 2008. I was just a young kid coming out of school, driving up to Regina from North Dakota, not really having any idea what I was really getting myself into or what was gonna happen. It was an opportunity to try to keep playing football and it just turned into the best experience of my life. A lot better than anything I could have pictured in my head, that’s for sure.”

Their stories are marvellous, certain to be told this weekend in Hamilton when the Class of 2024 gets formally inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Another player who spent time in Saskatchewan, return specialist Chad Owens, will be joining them alongside receiver S.J. Green, defensive back Marvin Coleman and amateur builder Ed Laverty.

Dressler, his wife and four children were scheduled to travel from North Dakota, expecting to be joined by parents, in-laws, a sibling and Rob Bagg, Chris Getzlaf and Mike McCullough, former teammates to celebrate with while mourning the recent deaths of Jim Hopson, former president of the Roughriders, and former Riders coach Ken Miller.

“Those are probably two of the most important guys for me making it in that league,” said Dressler. “To see them pass away is sad, but at the same time you try and reflect on the good, from a football perspective and also for my life trajectory.”

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Goldsmith was bringing family from the American West Coast to “see what daddy did all those years ago and hopefully they come away with an idea, or at least a feeling, of what I accomplished when I was playing professional football in Canada.” Goldsmith, the CFL’s rookie-of-the-year in 1981, spent 1983-87 with the Toronto Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders before rejoining Saskatchewan for three years that included winning the 1989 Grey Cup.

“Saskatchewan was different from the other organizations I was with, because everyone was connected to the community,” said Goldsmith. “After going through two-a-days (workouts), offensive linemen Bob Poley and Roger Aldag would bring you in, make you feel welcome. That was a good thing because I didn’t know anybody on the team. But it was a good team to be on.”

Jauch was planning a 10-hour drive with his sons, plus he was looking forward to meeting old friends from his days coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton (then-)Eskimos and Roughriders, where he was the offensive co-ordinator before spending 1994-95 as head coach.

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Amid his stops with U.S. colleges and fledgling pro leagues, Jauch was a Grey Cup-winner with Edmonton in 1975. He retired with 127 coaching wins, sixth-most in CFL history.

Jauch had been an assistant coach in Iowa after a short, Grey Cup-winning playing career with Winnipeg. When he got an offer to coach in New Mexico, Jauch called an old friend who was coaching in Edmonton.

“I called Neill (Armstrong) and he said, ‘I was just thinking about you. Wanna come up here and coach?’ We finalized everything and when I went to leave with my wife and three kids, there was a storm coming across the Great Plains. We packed everything in the old station wagon and started driving west.”

They survived a brutal blizzard and got storm-stayed a few days before finally hitting the Canadian border and ultimately realizing how far north they still had to drive to Edmonton.

“The thing that got me was the cows were close to the road, right by the fences, just standing there with icicles coming off their chins,” said Jauch, recalling his first venture into Canada. “They had frozen to death! So, anyway, we made it … It was quite a trip!

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“I didn’t know the Hall of Fame was at the other end of the trip.”

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