Durant, Shivers, Molnar added to Riders’ Plaza of Honor

Three Roughrider legends will be inducted into the team’s Plaza of Honor this fall.

This year’s inductees are quarterback Darian Durant, general manager Roy Shivers and running back Steve Molnar.

Steve Mazurak, who chairs the selection committee, said he couldn’t think of three more deserving people to induct in 2024.

“Darian Durant and Steve Molnar have seven Grey Cup appearances between them, and Roy Shivers made history when he hired Danny Barrett to become the first Black GM/Head Coach tandem in professional football,” Mazurak said in a statement.

“On behalf of all of Rider Nation, as well as the selection committee, I want to congratulate them on this great honour.”

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Durant, who spent 10 years with the Riders, is best remembered for leading the team to its most recent Grey Cup win in 2013. He was the Riders’ most-outstanding player in 2009 and 2010, and held the CFL’s passing record in 2010 with 5,542 yards.

“Whenever you come to Saskatchewan and you see the rich tradition and the guys who have been inducted before you, it’s always in the back of your head to have that sort of accomplishment,” Durant said. “It’s great to finally get in.”

In his career, Durant played in 174 career games, throwing for 31,740, 164 touchdowns and 115 interceptions.

One of the things he’s most proud of in his time in Saskatchewan was being able to see what winning could do for a franchise.

“How it could bring a province and Rider Nation together,” Durant said. “Just seeing the progression of the franchise — a new stadium being built.”

Durant’s time in Saskatchewan came to an end in 2017 when then-head coach and general manager Chris Jones traded him to the Montreal Alouettes.

“We all know things didn’t end in the way I would have liked it to,” Durant said. “As time goes on, you mature and you realize that it happens to everyone — even the best of them.

“Very few guys get to finish their career with the team they started with.”

The Florence, S.C., product admits in hindsight, he should have taken a pay cut to stay in Saskatchewan.

“When you’re in the moment, your competitive drive is what fuels you and you feel you should be compensated as such and that’s how I felt at the time,” Durant said. “I was offered a contract … it was me who turned it down.”

Since he was traded, it always felt like Durant’s relationship with the team seemed strained as he wasn’t around too often.

But he’s excited to start reintegrating himself with the fan base.

“Basically come back home so to speak and enjoy this next phase of my life as an alumni,” Durant said. “Saskatchewan has been so good to me and my family and it makes perfect sense for me to come back home and rekindle that relationship because it was long overdue.”

Molnar, who is being inducted posthumously, played with Saskatchewan from 1969 to 1978, rushing for 2,549 yards and 20 touchdowns, while also catching passes for another 1,552 yards and two more touchdowns. Born in Saskatoon, Molnar was the son of a former Roughrider, Steve Molnar Sr., who played for the team in 1943. The younger Molnar appeared in Grey Cup games in ‘69, ‘72 and ‘76.

What a fantastic Plaza of Honour class for the #Riders this year!

Roy Shivers, Darian Durant and Steve Molnar will be inducted.

Credit to the committee now headed up by Steve Mazurak to include Roy after he helped spark the Riders rise.

— Jamie Nye (@jamienye) June 12, 2024

“Dad always having this fierce pride of having come back full-circle and playing for the Riders and what that meant to Saskatchewan as a whole, to have a home-grown kid play for the Riders and how proud he was of that,” said Jeremy Molnar, Steve’s son.

“Even when we got the call from Steve — and mom and I talking about it — we just kind of broke down and it was because we knew what it would have meant to dad to hear that.”

Shivers, the first Black general manager in the league’s history, joined the Riders in 1999 and stayed in the role until 2006. His keen eye for talent led him to sign or recruit 11 players who would go on to join the Plaza of Honour themselves. In a single trade in 2006, he obtained Durant and Kerry Joseph, who both went on to win Grey Cups as quarterbacks. Shivers was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame as a builder for his role drawing talent to Saskatchewan and several other teams around the league.

Shivers said he was shocked to finally get the call.

“I never thought it would happen with all the things that have gone on in the past,” Shivers said. “I was happy and I was kind of satisfied. At least they finally understand I did a halfway decent job while I was there and I appreciate that.

Shivers said the thing he was most proud of was making Saskatchewan a viable contender again.

“When I went there, no one wanted to go and they bad-mouthed it,” Shivers said. “To turn it around and get it going in the (right) direction.”

But after he and the organization parted ways after the 2006 season, it means he didn’t get a chance to celebrate in 2007 when the club won the Grey Cup with a roster he had mostly put together.

“The only thing that ticks me off is I couldn’t finish the job,” Shivers said. “I’m proud I left (the club) in real good shape but I knew they were going to win the championship the next year. I kept telling (head coach Danny Barrett) we were going to get fired and they were going to win the championship with the same people that we had and that’s what happened.”

The induction will be made official during a halftime ceremony at Mosaic Stadium on Oct. 12 when the Riders take on the visiting B.C. Lions.