How the riders almost folded
Courtesy RodPedersen.com:
The Saskatchewan Roughriders almost folded in the spring of 1997. Actually the club Executive was just days away from making the decision to pull the plug before a miracle came along. Here’s the story:
Hall of Fame Roughrider volunteer and Past President Tom Shepherd was on 620 CKRM’s Currie’s Corner last Thursday, talking about his HoF induction, and also the perilous road the Riders have travelled the past 30 or so years financially.
Initially, Tom was asked how the legendary Friends of the Riders Touchdown Lottery began. It was on the strength of the Lottery — and the $12-million its raised — that Shepherd was inducted into the Hall.
“It was out of necessity. Greg Walter, a policeman in Saskatoon, ran a lottery for a policeman who was killed and had reasonable success making $25,000 or so. He called me and said I should do it for the Riders. That year Keith Critchley was Rider President and I was Vice and he gave me a mandate to raise $1,000,000 off the field. Luckily Greg Walter called me in 1986 and I started doing it. Now every year we’re making about $600,000 for the club.”
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