Mike McCullough played on two special teams — those of 2007 and 2013.
He helped the Saskatchewan Roughriders win a Grey Cup in both of those magical years.
Each time, there was a backstory involving one of his sons.
Peter Joseph McCullough (now known as Joe) was born on Nov. 24, 2007 — one day before the Roughriders defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 in the 95th Grey Cup game, played in Toronto.
When Saskatchewan next won a championship, by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23, it was Joe’s sixth birthday.
Moreover, there are backstories behind the backstory.
Leading up to the 2007 Grey Cup game, McCullough — a linebacker and special teams standout — missed some practice time due to food poisoning.
Six years later, McCullough capped his professional football career by winning his final game.
Better yet, that game was played in the Roughriders’ home stadium, where he was one of the first people to touch the trophy as confetti flew on the field.
“I knew I was going to be done,” McCullough reflects. “My wife and I decided after the summer that I was probably going to retire.
“It was a fitting end and I was able to go out on top. It can’t really get much better than that.”
Post-football, McCullough — who is originally from Kingston, Ont. — has remained in Regina, where he is a Certified Financial Planner with IG Private Wealth Management.
McCullough also keeps busy as a proud husband (to Laura) and father — to Joe (now 15), Wes (14), Claire (13) and Will (12).
Mike and Laura’s first child, Cole, passed away in his sleep at age three on Feb. 19, 2009. Before turning one, Cole had been diagnosed with a seizure disorder and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
The McCulloughs later became ambassadors for the We Can’t Wait capital campaign, which raised money for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital before it opened in 2019.
Life proceeds at a brisk pace, as family and vocational matters create a succession of busy days, and before you know it nearly a full decade has elapsed since the 2013 Grey Cup game.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of a landmark moment in Saskatchewan history, the Roughriders of 2013 are entering the SaskTel Plaza of Honour in the team category.
The formal enshrinement is to take place at halftime of Saturday’s game between the Roughriders and Tiger-Cats (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
The fourth championship team in Roughriders history will be honoured along with Wendy Kelly, who in 1993 became the first female member of the team’s Board of Directors. She is to be inducted posthumously.
Kelly was the Production Manager for the 2013 Grey Cup Gala — part of an unforgettable week in Regina.
“It’s just insane that it has been 10 years,” marvels McCullough, who entered the Plaza as an individual in 2022. “I haven’t seen some of these guys in 10 years. I’m really looking forward to it.
“That’s why I was really pushing for these guys to get here. Maybe we’ll do a 20- or a 30-(year reunion), but who knows who’s around at that point and who can even get out here?
“I kind of told the guys, ‘This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get as many of these guys together again as possible, so you need to take advantage of it — especially with the Riders paying.’ ”
McCullough, Chris Best, John Chick, Darian Durant, Chris Getzlaf, Neal Hughes and Rey Williams are the only players who were with the 2007 and 2013 teams.
They are part of an ultra-exclusive fraternity — Roughriders players who were part of two Grey Cup champions. Previously, the Green and White won titles in 1966 and 1989.
At times, it felt like there were cold spells between championship seasons, although that reference could be taken literally in the case of McCullough as his farewell to football loomed.
“You just try to focus on the game, which is tough when the city that you’re playing in is your home city,” says McCullough, who spent 11 seasons with the team after being chosen in the third round of the 2003 CFL Draft out of St. Francis Xavier.
“It was frigid that week. I didn’t do any of the (social) events, just because I wanted to stay focused. I just wanted to lock it in.”
But eventually he had to break out, in a sense.
“We were staying in a hotel and my furnace went at minus-40,” McCullough continues, “so I had to sneak out of the hotel, get back to my house, call a plumber at midnight, and have him come over in the middle of the night to fix the furnace, because my wife and kids were in there freezing their butts off.
“I snuck out, but it was for the right reasons. I came back to the hotel about two in the morning. It’s just another story to add to it.
“But I had a few more things on my mind than partying, knowing that it was going to be my last game and my last time running out of the tunnel.
“You try not to think too much about it but, when it came time to do it, I got a little emotional.”
Even today, the recollection of that moment stirs the emotions.
“I remember running out when we got announced and just seeing all the green and white,” McCullough says. “That was my fourth Grey Cup and, every Grey Cup I played in, there was always a good contingent of green and white, and then there was the other team’s fans there, too. It was usually a smattering of colours all around the stadium, but this one was all green and white.
“I remember seeing one little bloc of maybe six or eight people dressed in black behind the Hamilton bench. That looked like their contingent. Every single other person was green and white.
“Right then, you kind of knew, ‘This is our day.’ ”
Green day, if you will.
“Before, during and after the game, I just wanted to savour it all,” McCullough says.
“I think I was one of the last guys to leave the locker room. After partying with everyone after the game, I remember I was in the shower with a full bottle of champagne, which I polished off nicely.
“It was pretty surreal. I just reflected and drank the champagne. Ordinarily, I don’t like champagne but, at that point, it tasted like liquid gold.”
