As someone who eschews the spotlight, Rolan Milligan Jr. does not covet an inundation of individual accolades.
Ideally, though, there will be many more to come.
Now that Milligan Jr. has won three of the six individual awards that were announced on Wednesday by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the CFL, one wonders where all this will lead.
He would seem to be an obvious candidate for All-CFL honours, which are determined after voting is done by fans, the media and the league’s head coaches. (Fans can vote HERE.)
Milligan also merits strong consideration for West Division honours in three categories — Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
West and East Division finalists are to be announced on Oct. 31. The CFL Awards presentations are set for Nov. 14 in Vancouver, where the 111st Grey Cup Game is to be played three days later.
Milligan Jr.’s sole focus is to do his utmost to help the Roughriders advance to and win the championship game.
Along those lines, the soft-spoken defensive halfback typically talks more expansively about team-related objectives than about anything pertaining to himself (unless, of course, the subject matter is his family).
But there isn’t much choice but to discuss personal accomplishments on a day like Wednesday, when half the team’s awards are bestowed upon him.
“You know I really don’t like attention,” he began with a chuckle, “but it’s an honour, for sure —being recognized for putting in the work all year and in the off-season, coming back from injury.”
Milligan Jr. was enjoying a stellar start to the 2023 season before suffering a toe injury in the Roughriders’ fourth game. Season-ending surgery ensued.
He has returned with a flourish in 2024, posting a league-high eight interceptions while being among the league’s leaders in special teams tackles throughout the season.
It is hardly an accident that the Roughriders have an 11-8-1 record with Milligan Jr. in the lineup — as opposed to being 4-11-0 without him — over the past two seasons.
Corey Mace has appreciated Milligan Jr.’s play from two perspectives. Now the Roughriders’ head coach, Mace was with an opposing team for Milligan Jr.’s first three CFL seasons.
Upon joining the Roughriders in late November, Mace — also the defensive co-ordinator — developed an enhanced appreciation for Milligan Jr.
“You saw on tape that he was a special player,” Mace said on Wednesday. “Obviously, the sample size of it wasn’t as extensive, but you saw enough where you went, ‘Ooooh … that’s a really good player!’
“To see what he has been able to do this year has been outstanding.”
Three awards, for example.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen that before,” Mace said, “but he has earned everything, so I’m happy for him and proud of him.”
Mace, 38, was a handful of years away from arrival on this fine planet when Ken McEachern became the Roughriders’ first three-award winner.
The Regina-born safety accomplished that feat in 1979 and repeated a year later, once again receiving Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Canadian laurels.
The team’s next hat trick did not occur until 2015, when linebacker Jeff Knox Jr. was named the Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Rookie.
The Roughriders’ combined record during the three previous three-award seasons: 7-43-0.
This year, by contrast, the 9-7-1 Roughriders have clinched a home playoff game — tickets are available HERE — and enter the final weekend of regular-season play with a chance of finishing first in the West.
Matters raised in the preceding paragraph provide fuel for all the Roughriders’ award winners.
Rookie-of-the-year nominee Trevor Reid, for example, is the only Roughriders offensive lineman to start all 17 games at the same position this season.
“It’s a blessing, but the job’s not done,” the 24-year-old left tackle said. “I won’t feel good until I get to the Grey Cup.”
Neither will Logan Ferland, who was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman for the third year in succession.
“It doesn’t mean much without a Grey Cup,” he emphasized. “That’s the main thing we’re here for.
“I think anyone who won an individual award is going to be saying the same thing.”
Isn’t that right, Samuel Emilus?
“We’re all chasing something bigger,” said the third-year Roughriders receiver, who has been named the Most Outstanding Canadian in back-to-back years.
With 87 catches, Emilus is seven shy of tying the team’s single-season record for receptions by a Canadian (set by Hall of Famer Ray Elgaard in 1990).
Elgaard, Emilus and Jeff Fairholm are the only nationals in Roughriders history to have strung together 1,000-yard seasons.
“Whatever stats I have are going to happen,” Emilus said. “At the end of the day, I just want to win.
“As long as I can help the team win by making catches or scoring a touchdown or doing anything of that nature, I just know the stats are going to come eventually.”
So does Milligan Jr., who hopes to add to his impressive numbers in Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Calgary Stampeders (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
“I always want to add to my stats,” he said. “If I’m adding to my stats, I’m helping us win.”
And that, dear reader, is the bottom line.
