Green is the colour: Riders unveil new alternate jerseys

Green is the colour – Obsidian green that is.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have revealed a brand new alternate look the CFL club said is inspired by their fans.

“We spent a long time and we really want to get it right,” said President and CEO Craig Reynolds. “Our fans were asking for an alternate jersey and when we were going to come out with a jersey and our players as well.”

The new look includes a new logo and uniforms that will be worn twice in 2024 – at the Green is the Colour game on July 19 and Fan Appreciation game on Oct. 26.

Linebacker C.J. Reavis is a fan of the colour scheme.

“I love them. They are very clean looking — it’s like the colour-rush vibe (from the NFL),” Reavis said. “Ten-out-of-10 from me.”

Reavis said the players erupted when they saw the jerseys for the first time.

“It was crazy. it was turnt,” Reavis said. “The energy was very very high. I’m so excited to wear these jerseys.

“It’s definitely a new vibe in the facility, a new culture, a new standard.”

They have also received a positive response from a few of the fans who were at Mosaic Stadium for the unveiling.

“It seems a lot better. I know about the alternate jerseys we’ve had in the past with those watermelon ones and they weren’t always my favourite,” Ian Fiedelleck said. “I remember as a little kid watching them have them black uniforms. Watching them go to a darker green, it brings me back to those memories and I liked those jerseys a lot.”

Mark Habicht, the director of retail operations and licensing for the Riders, said this design has taken five years to come to life.

“There were some things that came up in between, like the pandemic but this was something we have been working on for a long time,” Habicht said. “I think people are real excited.”

The uniform features three shades of green – obsidian, Rider and emerald.

Obsidian is the primary colour of the uniforms and the club said it, “Embodies a toughness found in the shadows. It is the darkest shade of green available before it turns to black.”

“(Obsidian green) is a custom colour. We are the only ones to have that colour,” Habicht said. “We worked very hard on it. We had a lot of versions of it that didn’t work out.”

The Rider green, “Speaks of resilience, without saying a word, and reflective of a place and people renowned for their tenacity: Saskatchewan.”

Meanwhile, the emerald is, “Reflective of the fireworks that explode above Mosaic Stadium and the Northern Lights that glow above the Land of the Living Skies.”

All three shades of green are featured in a new “S” logo that also contains a wheat spike in the middle of it.

The spike is topped by a 13^th kernel which is meant, “To pay homage to the 13^th man and our incredible fan base.”

With a new season nearly here — the Riders open the season June 8 in Edmonton against the Elks — Reynolds said he is feeling energized about the team this year.

“(Head coach) Corey (Mace) has brought a new energy and new feel and we have felt that since he started,” Reynolds said. “To see our players’ reactions to (the jerseys), it just brought a ton of new energy to the entire fan base and our entire organization as well.”