Sask. Roughriders ready to get back on the field after CFL announces Aug. 5 start date

Saskatchewan Roughrider fans can dust off their green-and-white jerseys.

After almost one-and-a-half years without the Canadian Football League, the CFL's board of governors voted in favour of starting the 2021 campaign on Aug. 5. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"It wasn't your average board of governors meeting," Saskatchewan Roughriders president Craig Reynolds said during a news conference. 

"It felt different and it was different, and I think people understood how important it was that we get back on the field." 

The CFL plans to release a 14-game schedule for the 2021 season on Tuesday. In November, the league was still planning for a full 18-game season, but later had to move the starting date to August and the Grey Cup game in Hamilton to Dec. 12. 

Roughriders players will come to Saskatchewan in a few weeks, said Reynolds, and will start training after a quarantine and testing period. 

"It is going to be unlike any other season the team has ever played in, but after falling just short of a Grey Cup berth in 2019, we feel like we have some unfinished business to attend to," Reynolds said in a message on the Saskatchewan Roughrider website.

According to Saskatchewan's reopening plan, Step 3 will begin three weeks after 70 per cent of people 18 and older have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally three weeks need to have passed since the beginning of Step 2 (slated for June 20). 

Only during the second stage of Step 3 will restrictions on large gatherings be lifted, which requires 70 per cent of people 12 and older to have received their first shot. 

"Nothing would mean more to us, to our players, coaches and staff, to be able to put on a game day that includes 33,000 of you on your feet as the team takes the field," said Reynolds on the website. 

"Everyone is now eligible to get that shot, so if you have been putting it off or haven't quite gotten around to it — now is the time to act to help us get there."

Currently the organization works on a plan to open the stadium for games "in a safe and responsible manner," said Reynolds during a news conference.

Reynolds said he looks forward to being back at the stadium with the fans, but the return of CFL football also comes with some challenges for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

"The reality is that, yeah, the club will sustain significant financial losses to play the '21 season and a shortened season," said Reynolds. 

"We certainly recognized that it was completely vital that we get back playing football in front of our fans.... There'll be a sense of normalcy, you know, that will come out of that day, and I think it'll be quite emotional."