There was prime rib for dinner and prime ribbing for dessert.
The easy, enduring camaraderie between Darian Durant and six former Saskatchewan Roughriders teammates — Wes Cates, Chris Getzlaf, Neal Hughes, Mike McCullough, Luc Mullinder and Scott Schultz — made for delectable listening fare on Saturday night at the Casino Regina Show Lounge.
They all gathered, before an appreciative audience exceeding 300, for an inaugural event that was ingeniously dubbed “Dinner with Doubles.”
After everyone in attendance had enjoyed a delectable prime rib buffet, it was time for the main course — a roundtable featuring seven players who made immense contributions to a transformative era in Roughriders history.
“What I wanted to do tonight was bring not only some of my former teammates, but some guys who have been so influential in my career and in me becoming a lifelong Rider and a better man,” said Durant, whose 11-season stay in Saskatchewan began in 2006.
“These were the guys who believed in me from the beginning. These were the guys who before I was even on the roster, when I was a practice-squad guy, saw something in me.
“They never treated me like I was just some rookie from the States who came in. They’ve always shown me love. They’ve always shown me support.
“To this day, we all share something special.”
So did those of us who attended “Dinner with Doubles” and, well, ate it up.
Over 90-plus minutes, there was ample time to be serious. Those opportunities were seized when thoughtful tributes were paid to Jim Hopson and Ken Miller.
In fact, proceeds from the event are earmarked for the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation in memory of Hopson — and in recognition of his emphasis on education.
The Roughriders’ first President-CEO was 73 when he passed away on April 2 after a three-year battle with cancer.
“I wouldn’t be here tonight if it wasn’t for Jim,” Durant said. “Jim came to me about six or seven months ago and said, ‘We miss you. You really mean a lot to Rider Nation and we’d love to have you back.’ ”
He’ll be back again soon — to be formally inducted into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour. Hopson (in 2018) and Miller (2022) had entered the Roughriders’ shrine in recent years.
Miller, a beloved coach and mentor, died of cancer on Aug. 21 in Asheville, N.C., at age 82.
“When you think of Coach Miller, the first thing that comes to you is that he was like a father figure,” said Durant, who became entrenched as the Roughriders’ starting quarterback during Miller’s tenure as head coach.
“You didn’t want to let him down,” McCullough added. “He didn’t have to yell. He didn’t have to embarrass you because, if you let him down, you knew it. I always respected him so much and he was so good to us.”
That era was good to us.
During a prosperous period that spanned 2007 to 2013, the Roughriders appeared in four Grey Cup Games and won two of them.
Most memorably, Durant was the starting quarterback when Saskatchewan defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 to post the first home-field Grey Cup victory in Roughriders history.
Rewinding to 2013, Durant said to McCullough: “You have to tell them about the time you snuck into the picture.”
To which the erstwhile Roughriders linebacker and special-teams stalwart responded: “This is about you. It isn’t about me.”
But “Dinner with Doubles” was all about having a great time, so McCullough — hysterically funny throughout the evening — shared the story.
“In 2007, about two weeks after we won the Grey Cup, I see Jeremy O’Day and Gene Makowsky, just signing stacks of pictures,” McCullough began.
“I said, ‘What are you doing?’ They told me they were signing for 25 bucks a picture. I thought, ‘Wow!’ This was the iconic Geno picture and all the guys were in it. I put that in my memory bank.”
Fast forward to Nov. 24, 2013 at historic Mosaic Stadium. The Roughriders have just captured a championship and it is fan-demonium.
“I’m one of the captains of the team, but I’m talking to my family and that’s keeping me off the stage,” McCullough continued.
“I look up and I see the commissioner, so I run up on to the stage and there’s Darian, of course, and Craig Butler and Corey Chamblin … and myself.
“There’s going to be the iconic Darian picture, which I know is coming. So, before the commissioner starts talking, I duck under where the camera is and I pop up right under (Weston) Dressler and Darian.
“You can see that I’m in every one of Darian’s pictures. You can see Dressler’s arm, because he’s like 5-foot-2.
“I never did get to sign pictures with pay, but I’m in every picture, so it’s fantastic.”
Ditto for a lighthearted rant that set the tone for no-holds-barred hilarity.
“I got to know Darian as a show-team all-star in practice,” said Schultz, a Roughriders defensive tackle from 2001 to 2009.
“Everyone on this dais, we’d go around the province and go around the circuit and speak at hockey dinners and everything.
“Every time I see any of Darian’s stuff at a silent auction, I’d put in a negative bid. Then I’d take a picture of it and send it to him.
“Even at 46 years old, I still think of practice. You should be able to brother-in-law it a little bit. It’s Day 1 and you’re getting into a groove.
“No! He was dinking and dunking and completing passes all over the place. That was my introduction to Darian and that’s the lasting impact he has had on my life.”
Hughes, a Roughriders fullback from 2004 to 2014, understandably had fonder memories to relate.
“Some of my greatest memories of (Durant) were when he first came on to the team,” Hughes said.
“We were both on the practice squad. We used to torch the defence every day. It has given Schultzie nightmares to this day.”
Hearing that, Mullinder felt compelled to interject.
“That’s because you’d never do what was on the card,” growled the former Roughriders defensive linemen, who is now part of 620 CKRM’s broadcast team, alongside play-by-play man Dave Thomas.
“When you’re on ‘look’ team, you’re supposed to do what’s on the card. If it says, ‘Throw to the guy coming across the middle at seven yards, Darian and you were supposed to do that!’ ”
Instead, or so the story goes, the offence was open to improvisation.
Fittingly so, one supposes, because “Dinner with Doubles” often felt like an evening at the improv.
Along the way, it occurred to me why “Doubles” and friends were so successful.
The outrage of Mullinder and Schultz can be feigned with great success for comedic effect, but the bond shared by everyone on stage cannot be contrived.
It was a genuine celebration of someone who belongs on the Roughriders’ all-time Mount Rushmore.
“Dinner with Doubles” was the brainchild of Harvard Media’s Vice-President of Sports, whose phrasing was as perfect as the evening proved to be.
“You,” CKRM’s Kris Mazurak told Durant early in the proceedings, “are the quarterback of our generation.”
