‘We will hoist that trophy again:’ Darian Durant pledges to the Rider Nation

In a province where almost every statement by Darian Durant is big news – this is probably the biggest one yet.

Darian Durant is making a guarantee of sorts to the Rider Nation: He will bring the Grey Cup back.

“We will hoist that trophy again before I walk out of town, you can mark that down,” a confident Durant said after practice on Friday.

It’s quite the reversal from just three days ago, when Durant said he wasn’t even thinking of that new stadium until the ink dried on a new contract.

“I’ll think about it if I have a deal but right now it’s all about finishing up this year,” he said Tuesday. 

Perhaps it the change in tone came from out of nostalgia – Durant and the 2013 Grey Cup winning Roughrider team is being honoured at half time on Saturday and he had been speaking to the media about that game before he made his pledge. However, it’s also possible that contract talks are going better than he alluded to earlier this week.

In fact, Head Coach and General Manager Chris Jones said Tuesday that contract talks were going in a “positive direction.”

“Darian’s a life-long rider and we want him here,” Jones said at the time.

Regardless of what’s going on behind-the-scenes, Durant is excited to have some of his old teammates back in town Saturday to celebrate what he calls “the best night ever.”

“There’s nothing about that night that I’ve forgotten about,” Durant said with a smile. “I remember it from the beginning, the bus ride over to the ending celebration in the locker room. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Durant also said he hasn’t had a cigar since that night, it was in that same breath when he promised he’d bring another Grey Cup home to Saskatchewan.

“That will be the next (cigar),” he said.