Grey Cup special time for 3 brothers reunited at 2013 game

When the Roughriders won the Grey Cup in 2013, Dallas Verity watched it with his brothers at his side.

It was a moment that was incredibly special to him because he was adopted and had only been recently reunited with his biological siblings.

Verity’s adoption was open, so he had some information on his birth family but it wasn’t until his wife spotted a picture of someone that looked exactly like Verity on social media that he dug further into meeting them.

“(My wife) had just been really curious and clicked (on the photo) and she’s like ‘wait, that’s not Dallas that’s someone named Nathan,’ so she ended up having a conversation with him and find out that (he) was actually my birth brother.”

Verity and his older brother Nathan eventually also reunited with two younger siblings and another older brother coincidentally also named Nathan after enlisting the help of a private investigator.

“It wasn’t until getting to know each other that especially the three of us, the three older brothers (both Nathans and Verity), were also massive Rider fans,” Verity said, adding that happened despite being raised by different families, living in different cities and in one case even a different province.

With that special link in mind, it was a no-brainer for the three eldest siblings to attend the 2013 Grey Cup together when it came to Regina. They didn’t know at the time they would also get to watch their favourite team win the Cup at their home field.

“We said we need to make this happen because it’s kind of like a homecoming for us,” he explained.

The Riders winning and the ensuing celebrations across Regina made lifelong memories for the trio who weren’t able to make those kind of memories growing up.

“Getting to celebrate in the streets – it was a super incredible experience, not only as a Saskatchewan-born guy to get to see the Riders play in the Grey Cup here but also to win it and then get to do that with my brothers who I didn’t know for 25 years of my life … it was an absolutely incredible gift,” he added.

Verity said the three of them laughed a lot and also cried a lot, but it put down the foundation of a relationship that has grown stronger in the years that followed. The expense of the Grey Cup makes it hard for them to travel to the championship every year but they’ve started to travel to a Rider away game once a year, suiting up in green and riling up opposing fans together.

“We found more common ground because of that (2013 Grey Cup) week … that we were able to spend so much time together and get to know each other – that was a big catalyst I’d say.”

And Verity said if the Riders are successful with their 2020 Grey Cup bid he and his brothers would be the first in line to do it all again.