ROBSERVATIONS: Super (Bowl) Saskatchewan connections … revisionist history … celebrating the first great Riders receiver

The recent signing of defensive lineman Shane Ray prompted one reader to inquire: How many people have played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and in a Super Bowl?

Ray, who helped the Denver Broncos win the NFL’s championship game in 2016, can expand the Roughriders/Super Bowl connection to 15 by suiting up for Saskatchewan in a CFL regular-season game.

As it stands, the Fabulous 14 consists of …

Robert Holmes: “Tank” Holmes had five carries for seven yards for the Kansas City Chiefs as they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 on Jan. 11, 1970. He played in five regular-season games with the 1976 Roughriders.

Jim Marshall: A member of the 1959 Roughriders, Marshall played for Minnesota in the Super Bowls of 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1977.

Ken Clark: With the Los Angeles Rams, Clark averaged 44 yards on five punts in a 31-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 20, 1980. He joined the Roughriders the following October and played in 47 games with the Green and White over four years.

Willie Jones: Jones had a fumble recovery for the Oakland Raiders in their 27-10 Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 25, 1981. In 1984, he had 1½ sacks in his only game as a Roughrider.

Rodney Parker: Parker, a Roughrider for parts of the 1978 and 1979 seasons, caught one pass for 19 yards for the Eagles in the 1981 Super Bowl. Also in that game, Ron Jaworski hit Parker for a 40-yard touchdown pass, only to have the play negated by an illegal motion penalty assessed to future Hall of Fame receiver Harold Carmichael.

Barry Wilburn: In the 1988 Super Bowl, Wilburn twice intercepted Denver’s John Elway to help Washington win 42-10. Wilburn was an All-CFL cornerback in 1993 — his one season as a Roughrider.

Alundis Brice: Brice, a defensive back, suited up for the Dallas Cowboys in their 27-17 Super Bowl victory over Pittsburgh on Jan. 28, 1996. He played in four games with the 2000 Roughriders.

Mike McGruder: McGruder had 17 interceptions over three years with Saskatchewan before playing in 92 NFL regular-season games between 1989 and 1997. He peaked in 1993 with five interceptions for the San Francisco 49ers. In the 1997 Super Bowl, McGruder was with the New England Patriots when they fell 35-21 to the Green Bay Packers.

Yo Murphy: A starting receiver for Saskatchewan in its 2007 Grey Cup victory, Llewellyn (Yo) Murphy was with the Rams when they were upset by New England in the 2002 Super Bowl. In fact, Murphy returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XXXVI. Over the course of the game, he returned three kickoffs for 81 yards and added an 11-yard reception.

Jay Alford: Alford sacked Tom Brady in the final minute and added two defensive tackles to help the New York Giants bounce the previously unbeaten Patriots 17-14 on Feb. 8, 2008. Alford, whose sack left New England in a third-and-20 jam, played in 10 games with the 2012 Roughriders.

Paul Spicer: His 12-year career as an NFL defensive lineman included a 2010 Super Bowl victory with the New Orleans Saints. He headed south after playing in six games with Saskatchewan in 1998.

Brett Swain: Swain caught 25 passes for 377 yards and three TDs in 17 games (including 16 starts) with the 2014 Roughriders. With Green Bay in the 2011 Super Bowl, he was targeted twice and registered three special teams tackles in a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh.

Will Blackmon: Blackmon’s tenure with the Roughriders included just one regular-season game — the 2018 Labour Day Classic. The itinerant defensive back arrived in Saskatchewan as a veteran of 10 NFL seasons. In the 2012 Super Bowl, he had one punt return (for 10 yards) and one kickoff return (four yards) for the Giants in their 21-17 victory over New England.

Greg Jones: Jones was the Roughriders’ starting middle linebacker in 2016. In 2012, he and Blackmon had helped the Giants upend New England. After the Super Bowl victory, Jones proposed to his girlfriend on the field. She accepted. A Super Bowl ring and an engagement ring in the same year!

Anthony Allen: With the 2014 Roughriders, Allen rushed for a team-high 930 yards in 13 games. He added 574 yards in 15 games the following season. Allen arrived in Riderville as the proud owner of a Super Bowl ring. He registered two special teams tackles for the Baltimore Ravens in their 34-31 victory over San Francisco on Feb. 3, 2013.

Jon Ryan: The Regina-born Ryan played in back-to-back Super Bowls for the Seattle Seahawks, beginning with their 43-8 victory over Denver on Feb. 2, 2014. The next year, Seattle lost a 28-24 heartbreaker to New England. Over those two games, Ryan punted seven times for an average of 44.9 yards. He subsequently punted for Saskatchewan in 2019 and 2021. As a first-year Roughrider, he posted a franchise-record average of 48.8 yards per punt — erasing the standard of 47.3 that had been set in 1983 by a fellow Super Bowl participant, Ken Clark.

YARD WORK

BREAKING NEWS FROM 32,998 DAYS AGO: On Oct. 6, 1934 against the Saskatoon Hilltops, Steve Adkins caught 11 passes to help the Regina Roughriders post a 29-9 Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union victory at Regina’s Exhibition Grounds.

Adkins’ yardage total was widely believed to be 231, which stood as a franchise single-game record until 1983. In fact, the 231 figure had appeared in the Roughriders’ media guide.

Then came Sunday, when I received an email from Robert Sproule, a pre-eminent Canadian football historian.

Robert, bless his heart, was kind enough to send me statistical information that included game summaries from the 1934 season.

Sifting through the stat, I arrived at the Oct. 6 game and saw Adkins’ previously unimaginable numbers … carefully, elegantly written in fountain pen!

Catches: 11 (check).

Yards: 232 (not 231).

That extra yard, which the Roughriders’ resident historian (me) has incorporated into the official record, makes a difference.

The revision vaults Adkins into sole possession of fifth place on the Roughriders’ all-time single-game receiving-yardage list. At 231, he had been tied for fifth with Duron Carter.

Anyway, here is the (slightly) revised list, which is thoughtfully expanded in this space to include all 17 200-yard receiving games in Roughriders history:

260 — Chris DeFrance (9 catches) at Edmonton, Aug. 5, 1983

255 — Andy Fantuz (10) vs. Calgary, Sept. 17, 2010 (OT)

244 — Jeff Fairholm (6) at Toronto, Sept. 26, 1992

240 — Andy Fantuz (7) at Hamilton, Oct. 14, 2007

232 — Steve Adkins (11) vs. Saskatoon, Oct. 6, 1934

231 — Duron Carter (11) vs. Ottawa, Oct. 13, 2017

218 — Joey Walters (9) vs. Edmonton, Oct. 14, 1979

215 — Jeff Fairholm (7) at B.C., July 9, 1993 (OT)

215 — Curtis Marsh (13) vs. Toronto, July 28, 2001

214 — Mike Saunders (8) vs. B.C., Oct. 25, 1992

213 — Bobby Thompson (7) vs. Edmonton, Aug. 16, 1972

210 — Ray Elgaard (12) at Hamilton, Aug. 6, 1993

209 — Jeff Fairholm (9) at Ottawa, Oct. 6, 1991

207 — Ray Elgaard (8) vs. B.C., Aug. 29, 1992

205 — Hugh Campbell (8) at Winnipeg, Aug. 25, 1965

203 — Bob Renn (8) vs. Calgary, Sept. 26, 1960

202 — Gord Barwell (7) vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 7, 1970

A STEADY DIET OF ADKINS

A few additional words about Adkins …

He was the first game-breaking receiver in Roughriders history, having arrived at a time when the forward pass was still a novelty.

The former University of South Dakota Coyotes standout helped the Roughriders advance to the 1934 Grey Cup Game, won 20-12 by the Sarnia Imperials.

Adkins caught four passes (tying a Grey Cup record) for 49 yards and one touchdown — an 18-yard strike from Walter (Oke) Olson — in the 1934 national final.

The following April, the Regina Leader-Post reported that Adkins would not return to Regina — where he also worked for General Motors — after accepting a high school teaching/coaching position in Flandreau, S.D.

Adkins joined the United States Army in 1940 and saw action in Italy and North Africa during the Second World War. While in the Army, he ascended to the rank of major.

After the War, Adkins returned to his home state. He coached and taught in Vermillion, S.D., until 1959. Then he began a successful career in the insurance business before retiring in 1978 and moving to Laguna Hills, Calif.

A football, basketball and track star at South Dakota from 1930 to 1932, Adkins entered the Coyotes Sports Hall of Fame in 1973.

The Roughriders’ first great receiver was 89 when he passed away on Oct. 26, 1998.

(Many thanks to the Argus Leader newspaper, from Sioux Falls, S.D., for the biographical information in Adkins’ post-Roughriders career.)

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Carmelle Ottenbreit, Robert Sproule, Courtney Wagner, Julie Stewart-Binks, Yo Murphy, Marcus Sayles, Mario Alford, Anthony Allen, Rolan Milligan Jr., Troy Casper, Dr. Mark Anderson, Eric Anderson, Dick Stark, Gerry Harris, Mark Becker, Dave Hall, Jay Willimott, Paul Humbert, Angela Tillier, Andrea Bollinger, Garth Ruecker, Rob Thomson, Jon Graf, Megan Graf, Paul Humbert, Madeleine Humbert, Nora Marpole, Darren Miller, Ryan Tanner, Wayne Morrison, Zach Hawley, Ryan Michell, Jeremy Sundeen, Joani Halverson, Jon Halvorson, Brittany Boczulak, Noah Sharp and everyone involved with the 71st Luther Invitational Tournament.