Lauther, Picton witnessed Roughriders’ 2013 Grey Cup victory, up close and personal

Two current Saskatchewan Roughriders players were on the sideline when the team last won a Grey Cup. 

But neither Mitch Picton nor Brett Lauther was playing for the Green and White at the time. 

Picton was then a rookie receiver with the University of Regina Rams, on whose behalf he sold 50/50 tickets at historic Mosaic Stadium on Nov. 24, 2013 — when the Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23. 

Lauther, the Roughriders’ kicker since 2018, broke into the CFL with Hamilton in 2013. He watched the 101st Grey Cup game, during which ex-Roughrider Luca Congi handled placements for the Tiger-Cats, with his Tabbies teammates on the east sideline. 

The Tiger-Cats’ punter at the time was Josh Bartel, who spent four subsequent seasons with Saskatchewan and, along with Lauther, formed the Roughriders’ kicking duo in 2018. 

“It was pretty cool to spend a week out there in ’13 and see kind of what the Grey Cup was and how much it meant to Rider Nation here,” recalls Lauther, 32, who was chosen by Hamilton in the seventh round (53rd overall) of the 2013 CFL Draft. “It was kind of surreal to have all that in my very first year in the league.  

“At the time, you think that just making it to the Grey Cup is easy. We went back the next year, too, and we haven’t been back since. I’m just working hard now and trying to do my part to help this team someday get there.  

“Thinking back now, I don’t even know what to say. It’s crazy how much time is flying by.” 

Picton can relate. 

He has gone from being someone who caught two passes in five games as a U Sports rookie to a valued veteran with the Roughriders, who drafted him in the fifth round (37th overall) in 2017. He had been named an All-Canadian with the Rams the previous year. 

Picton, 28, and his teammates are to return to action on Saturday — Legends Night — against Hamilton (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium). 

At halftime, the 2013 Roughriders are to be inducted as a team into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour. Saskatchewan’s other three Grey Cup-winning teams — the 1966, 1989 and 2007 editions — were enshrined in 2010, during the Roughriders’ 100th-anniversary season. 

Another milestone is being observed by honouring the 2013 team 10 years after it engineered the Roughriders’ first home-field Grey Cup victory. 

At the time of the triumph, Picton and his brother Aaron were both with the Rams. Aaron was a U of R offensive lineman from 2010 to 2015. 

“I was with my brother (at the 2013 Grey Cup) and I don’t think we sold a lot of 50/50 tickets,” Mitch Picton says with a laugh. “I think we were on the sidelines and watched most of the game.” 

In so doing, the Pictons saw Geroy Simon catch two touchdown passes from Darian Durant to help Saskatchewan carry a 31-6 lead into halftime. 

Simon, in his one season with Saskatchewan, wore No. 81 — Picton’s current number. 

“I remember when Geroy Simon caught a ball in the (north) end zone and I was kind of standing in the end zone, really close to him,” Picton says. 

“There are a lot of great Riders receivers who have come before us in this group. What they were able to accomplish is inspiring and it’s something that we’re going to strive for.”