As the Saskatchewan Roughriders vie to make their third Grey Cup appearance in four seasons, there are three current players who were with the team long before it became a perennial contender.
Offensive linemen Jeremy O'Day and Gene Makowsky and fullback Chris Szarka vividly remember 1999, when the team went 3-15 and missed the CFL playoffs for the second of four consecutive years.
"Thank God it seems like a long time ago, because those memories are bad," said Szarka, whose team is preparing to visit the Calgary Stampeders for Sunday's West Division final, with the winner advancing to the Grey Cup one week later in Edmonton.
It will be Saskatchewan's sixth West final appearance in the last eight years.
"Can we really get into how we've gotten here? I think we've got better systems in place since 1999. Our leadership and personnel have evolved. The whole mentality of this team has evolved - it's positive," Szarka said. "Back in the days, it was more of the old school, the yelling and the screaming and all that stuff. None of that goes on in our meetings any more. You see coaches build players up, you see they believe in each other, you see that players believe in their teammates."
The seeds of change were sown in 2000, when incoming general manager Roy Shivers hired head coach Danny Barrett. By 2002, the Roughriders were back in the playoffs.
Although they didn't have a home playoff game until their Grey Cup-winning season of 2007, when Eric Tillman and Kent Austin had taken over as GM and head coach, respectively, the Roughriders appeared in three West finals with Barrett at the helm. They lost to the Edmonton Eskimos in 2003, and the B.C. Lions in 2004 and 2006.
"There have been lots of guys who transformed things," O'Day said. "It began with Danny Barrett and Roy Shivers.
"Danny came in and preached about the family atmosphere; that carried into the next regime. Player-wise, [veteran defensive back]Eddie Davis coming here was huge. Gene has always been a good locker-room guy; Chris, too. The character in the locker room shows. The guys want to be together, they want to win together. Guys want to stay here in Saskatchewan, not just during the season, but there are 25 guys living here with their families, staying here all the time and pulling for each other to do well."
The Roughriders players of the mid-1960s to mid-1970s have become local icons because the core of the squad, from quarterback Ron Lancaster to fullback George Reed to defensive lineman Ed McQuarters to defensive back Lorne Richardson, stayed year-round in Regina.
From 1962-76, the Roughriders never missed the playoffs and appeared in five Grey Cup games, winning only in 1966.
That family-like environment has been perpetuated by Tillman, Austin and current coach Ken Miller, all under the leadership of Regina native Jim Hopson, a former player who became president and chief executive officer of the Roughriders in 2005.
"We've had some quality general managers who brought in talent," said Makowsky, a 16-year veteran, a University of Saskatchewan product and the team's longest-serving player. "The decision to go to a full-time CEO has been a big one. It's important having somebody who has a vision for the franchise, the buck-stops-here guy."
Szarka, who was elected last year as a Regina city councillor, is in his 14th CFL season. O'Day, who has won numerous awards for his community service, played two years with the Toronto Argonauts before joining Saskatchewan as a free agent in 1999.
"That was a super-long season, my first season here, and I remember it well," O'Day said. "I actually wondered whether I should keep playing football or not. I decided to stick with it. We've been through the tough seasons. It makes the good seasons even more enjoyable."
Special to The Globe and Mail