Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour helps heal old wounds

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The Plaza of Honour is more than a shrine for legendary Saskatchewan Roughriders players and builders. It also heals old wounds and inspires good memories, judging by conversations with this year’s inductees — Darian Durant, Roy Shivers and the family of the late Steve Molnar.

Durant, a quarterback who joined the Roughriders in 2006, unhappily left Saskatchewan via trade in 2016 after turning down a drastically reduced contract offer from then-GM/coach Chris Jones. Durant played the next season with the Montreal Alouettes, subsequently signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and retired before their 2018 training camp.

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The relationship was fractured with the devoted quarterback, who led the Riders to Grey Cup appearances in 2009, 2010 and their victorious, hometown championship in 2013.

As former teammates Chris Getzlaf and Weston Dressler were enshrined in the Plaza, there were questions about Durant’s absence until he was warmly received at last year’s ceremony. Durant plans to attend at least two home games this season and has become a regular on CKRM’s Rider radio broadcasts.

During a media conference call Durant said he wished, in hindsight, he had accepted Jones’ meagre offer and wound down his career in Saskatchewan.

“We all know that things didn’t end the way I would have liked,” said Durant. “As time goes on you mature and you realize that it happens to everyone, even the best of ’em. You name ’em, their time comes to an end. And very, very few guys get to finish their career with the team they start with.

“So of course I was a little upset about that and that’s just naturally the competitor in me, until it just made sense to basically come back home, so to speak, and enjoy this next phase of my life as an alumnus. Saskatchewan has been so good to me and my family, it makes perfect sense for me to … rekindle that relationship because it was long overdue.”

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New Plaza committee chair Steve Mazurak, a former Roughriders receiver and vice-president, announced the inductees earlier this week and, to Shivers, it was a surprise. It shouldn’t have been. Shivers was a controversial guy, but his induction two years ago into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame certainly proved he was worthy.

Shivers was hired before the 2000 CFL season as Saskatchewan’s general manager. He quickly appointed Danny Barrett as his head coach, making them the first all-Black management team in professional football, an arrangement that lasted until 2006.

“I wasn’t fired, I quit,” said Shivers, who acquired Durant in a trade and stockpiled most of the roster that new GM Eric Tillman and coach Kent Austin led to the 2007 Grey Cup, the team’s first championship appearance since 1997.

Shivers said he was proudest of making the franchise “viable again.” Shivers was also asked about the legacy of hiring Barrett, who is now the assistant head coach of the NFL’s Houston Texans.

“I’m looking at the CFL, you’ve got presidents, vice-presidents, head of different divisions of the football club and they’re doing it in the NFL now,” said Shivers. “So I’m proud of it. I knew what I was going to do when I first took the job, I was gonna get me a Black head coach. I knew that and made no bones about it.”

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Shivers hopes to attend the induction ceremony Oct. 12 at Mosaic Stadium. He’ll join an illustrious group of past inductees that includes former players like Austin, former coaches like John Gregory and former GMs like Hank Dorsch, whose tenures ended tumultuously before their accomplishments were fully acknowledged and they were graciously welcomed back into the Plaza.

For the Molnar family it will be a reflective time. Steve Molnar, who died in 2021, was born in Saskatoon and was with the Roughriders from 1969-78. Primarily a backup to Hall of Fame fullback George Reed, Molnar became the starter on the 1976 squad that advanced to the Grey Cup.

“I could just see dad kind of reflect on his career, reflect on what it meant to him and kind of break down and be really sensitive about his football time,” said son Jeremy Molnar. “I know if he was here right now it would be the same kind of expression, It wold be this internal conversation with himself. ‘Man, football means so much to me!’

“He’d be super thrilled, excited, because he knows it’s such an honour and it’s a reflection of what he put into it.”

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