Regina Rams' quarterback Darryl Leason remembers his stint with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1996 while he was playing in the Canadian Junior Football League.
"I had the opportunity to go to the Eskimos training camp and I actually made the team as a third-string quarterback," Leason explained to SportsCage host Barney Shynkaruk. "Financially, it didn't work out for me back then. The third-string quarterback was considered part of the practice roster."
Leason estimated he would have made $500 weekly which would total $9,000 for one season.
"They only kept two on the active roster so there's no money there. I wanted to play and I thought the only way it was going to get better is to be on the field taking snaps. That's why I made the decision to go to university. I went to university, got my degree, got a great job and I don't regret any of it," Leason said.
Leason currently works for Torxen Energy, an oil and gas company. He works as a "land man," securing rights for his company to drill oil wells. His university career spanned four years with the University of Calgary Dinos from 1996 through 1999. Then he spent his last two years at the University of Regina from 2000 through 2001.
Leason's time in the CJFL was productive, he led the Rams to three straight Canadian Bowl championships 1993, 1994 and 1995.
The Regina Rams were initially a junior football team won 15 Canadian Bowls then joined the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union, known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport and now U Sports in 1999.
When Leason played for the University of Regina, he led the Rams to two straight Hardy Cup finals. The first one happened on November 11, 2000, when Regina beat the University of Manitoba 25-22. The second happened the same day the following year against the Bisons, but the Rams lost 23-16.
"I guess at some point throughout the [2000] year, they had cancelled the Rams tickets because they had written us off," Leason said. "About two or three days after, we won the Hardy Cup and we were back on a bus to Winnipeg. We had to use the Bisons’ tickets to fly out to Halifax for the next game."
The Rams would go on to defeat the Saint Mary's Huskies 40-36 in the Atlantic Bowl on November 18, 2000. Following that victory, Regina headed to the Vanier Cup and lost to the Ottawa Gee-Gees 42-39 on November 25, 2000.
The Rams would not win another Hardy Cup final until November 9, 2024, when Regina defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 19-14. The Rams played against the Laval Rouge et Or in the Mitchell Bowl and 17-14 after an unexpected run to a conference championship following a 3-5 regular season.
