SirVincent Rogers, other former Ottawa Redblacks stars return Saturday

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Much has changed since Ottawa Redblacks football fans last saw fan favourite SirVincent Rogers — not long ago a left tackle as good as anybody in the CFL.

A big part — and when we say big, we’re talking 6-foot-4 and more than 320 pounds — of the Redblacks’ success as they went to three Grey Cups from 2015-18, the all-star offensive lineman is returning to Ottawa Saturday to be part of the celebration around the announcement of Ottawa’s All-Decade Team.

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Rogers, who was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Lineman in 2015, returned to Texas after retiring following the 2021 season and is now the boys athletic co-ordinator at Iowa Colony Junior High.

“It gives me an opportunity to be an influence on these kids at an impressionable stage,” said Rogers over the phone. “I remember my junior high days how rough around the edges I was. Coaches held me accountable and set a precedent for me later in life.”

His wife Rachel, who will be coming with him to Ottawa this weekend, recently coached the Iowa Colony High School track team to a state championship.

Saturday is a big deal. While the very-good Redblacks (who have a record of 6-2-1) play coach Rick Campbell and the B.C. Lions at 7 p.m., there’s also a star-studded cast of former Redblacks going to be in the building. Expected to be at TD Place along with Rogers are: Brad Sinopoli, Antoine Pruneau, Jonathan Rose, Nolan MacMillan, Moton Hopkins, Jon Gott, William Powell, Pat Lavoie, Diontae Spencer, William Powell, Abdul Kanneh, Ernest Jackson and Avery Williams.

There will be an autograph session, then a post-game party in the arena with some of the players there.

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Rogers, who played in Ottawa from 2015-18 before winding down his career in Edmonton, is excited about returning to the city and team that brought him success and good times.

“You think back to that span of years where we had so much success, it just brings back a lot of good memories,” he said. “I’m super excited about the type of atmosphere I feel like this weekend will present.”

Asked what he remembered most about his time in Ottawa, he said it was how the fans got behind the players and the team, and how the locker room was so tight.

The Redblacks weren’t very good in their expansion season; in 2014, they won just twice. But the team turned it around in a hurry. In 2015, the team won 12 games, advancing to the Grey Cup before falling 26-20 to Edmonton.

“The success we had in such a short period of time speaks to the level of camaraderie and guys being able to come into the locker room, understand the assignment and have each other’s back,” said Rogers. “What we did in that four-year span speaks to how were able to come together in a way you rarely see happen so quickly.

“When I came in (as a free agent before the 2015 season), I remember feeling the embrace from the core guys — J’Mike (J’Micheal Deane), Jon Gott, Hank (Henry Burris), Nolan MacMillan and guys like that. They remembered the feeling of the year before, having that 2-16 season.

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“I remember in the pre-season us not having success right away. I think there was a feeling in the locker room of, ‘Here we go again.’ I spoke up. I just reminded the guys, ‘We were just assembled, this is the pre-season, we’ll be fine.’ We were able to build off that. When you think back to that ’15 team, it speaks for itself. We were in position to win that Grey Cup. That season set the tone for what we ended up doing over the next three or four years. And, it started with those core guys, trusting all of us new guys were going to come in, stand alongside them and have an impact with them.”

Some who followed closely say the 2015 team was even better than the 2016 team, which won a Grey Cup.

“It’s hard to say,” said Rogers. “Everything came together in 2016. But it was an extension of what we had established.”

The post-Grey Cup celebrations and parade still stick out to Rogers.

“It felt like the entire Ottawa community was there, there were so many people, a sea of people,” he said. “It really set in that not only had we just won a championship, but we had ignited and excited an entire community that had been waiting for success. In that moment, that’s when I knew how special what we had just achieved was.”

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Now 38, Rogers says he doesn’t miss the daily grind of playing football.

“I don’t ever get that itch (to play),” he said. “I played the game in a very violent way. I wasn’t trying to save anything. I feel like I left everything out on the field. I have no regrets about anything. There’s not one day I miss doing any of it.

“While I was in it, I was full go. I exhausted myself, I emptied my tank. If I hadn’t, if I was pacing myself or didn’t feel like I was asserting myself in the right way, maybe I would look back and have reservations.”

In his heart, he’s still a Redblack. He refers to the team as “we,” not “they.”

“I’ve been keeping up, I’ve been watching games,” he said. “The (Redblacks) defence is playing aggressive. the offence is establishing everything off the run. The special teams are playing well. We look good.

“It’ll be cool (Saturday) for us to celebrate this new era of Redblacks football.”

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