The Saskatchewan Roughriders showcased their starters and alternates on Thursday night.
Six of the CFL team’s front-line players — Shawn Bane Jr., Trevor Harris, Rolan Milligan Jr., A.J. Ouellette, C.J. Reavis and Kian Schaffer-Baker — modelled the Rider Nation Alt Jerseys during a by-invitation-only unveiling at the Mosaic Stadium store.
“I think they’re awesome,” said Harris, the Roughriders’ starting quarterback.
“It’s one of those awkward feelings right now. I feel like I’m in a Halloween costume and everybody else missed the memo.”
Nobody can miss the Roughriders’ eye-catching new look, which will be launched in a game environment on July 19 when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers visit Mosaic Stadium.
The predominantly dark green uniforms will also be worn on Oct. 26 when the Calgary Stampeders are in town.
Fans won’t have to wait nearly that long to take a close look at the Alt concept. The merchandise went on sale to the general public on Friday morning.
“It’s very clean-looking,” said Reavis, who plays strong-side linebacker.
“The ‘S’ is crazy. I love em!”
Let the record show that Mark Habicht, the Roughriders’ director of retail operations and licensing, was the first person to wear the alt logo before an expanded audience.
On stage, Habicht outlined the painstaking process that ultimately led to a merger of Obsidian Green (dark), Emerald Green (a lighter shade) and the traditional Rider Green.
“I refer to Obsidian Green as Rider Green cranked up to 11,” Habicht joked.
“The key was to get the green as close to black as we could without it turning black, and I think we accomplished that.”
The result is an appearance that Dave Thomas, CKRM’s new play-by-play voice of the Roughriders, referred to as “powerful” during a preface to a question that he posed to the team’s President-CEO.
“Bold and fierce,” was Craig Reynolds’ response, “with the helmet being so dark and the dark face mask as well.
“I think the players look fierce and I think the wheat spike going through the centre of the helmet also conveys that impression.”
Ideally, this will contribute to a spike in interest on the part of younger fans.
“That’s a big part of it,” Reynolds said. “In this business, you always want to be doing everything you possibly can to be thinking about attracting the next generation of fans and appealing to a younger generation.
“You never know what’s going to inspire a young person to be a fan. They could see a logo like this somewhere tomorrow, or they could see a jersey and suddenly they’re inspired to be part of this.
“You never know when you’re going to get a new fan and that’s really, really important for everybody in this business.”
The trick was to entice that audience while also appeasing long-standing fans. The importance of balancing those interests was underlined over the five-plus years it took for the new look to go from introductory conceptualization to a formal, elaborate launch.
“It was a bit of a slow process and, quite frankly, you’re always a little nervous, too,” Reynolds acknowledged.
“We really like our primary logo. We really like our retro logo. So when you’re talking about a new mark, you’ve got to be really careful with it. That’s one of the reasons why it took a long time.”
Early on, Reynolds and Habicht were among a small group of leaders in the Roughriders’ business office who met with Bill Frederick — the founder and creative director of New York-based Fanbrandz.
“Bill did the logo design,” Reynolds noted. “He came to Saskatchewan and really spent some time understanding the province, the people, our fan base and our team.
“I think you see the result here is something truly special.”
That was the overwhelming sentiment from the players when they received a sneak peek, en masse, earlier in the day.
“Schaffer-Baker came out in his uniform, dancing and doing all his stuff, and everybody just went crazy,” Harris said.
“They’ve done a really good job of keeping the secret, so most of the guys got to see it for the first time today.”
There was another first-time experience of note, considering Harris’s limited experience as a model before Thursday night.
“Zero seconds,” he noted.
It is unlikely that he walked out of the store with zero Alt Jerseys.
Harris is the proud father of three young boys, so …
“I’ll have to grab my wallet,” he said with a laugh. “I was ordered by the boss, Miss Kalie, so it’s going to happen.”
That is what Habicht, who has directed the Roughriders’ retail operations since 2008, likes to hear.
“We’re very proud of this,” he said to conclude his portion of Thursday’s presentation, “and we hope you love it, too.”
