Even days before his death, Jim Hopson had the Saskatchewan Roughriders on his mind.
The former Riders lineman and the organization’s first full-time CEO and president told Darrell Davis, a sports columnist with the Regina Leader-Post, that he was looking forward to the team’s next season.
“He was still talking ‘Oh, I think it’s going to be a good season,'” Davis told CBC in an interview Wednesday.
“The sad part is he wanted to see one more game this year under the new administration. It’s about the only thing he didn’t accomplish.”
Hopson died on Tuesday at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with colon cancer three years ago.
On Wednesday. he was mourned by members of the organization for the legacy he left behind.
In a statement, Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said Hopson had ushered in a “new era” for the Roughriders that included championships, financial success and “a belief in Roughrider football that will never fade away.”
“But more than that, Jim was an optimist, someone who made you feel better by just being around him and a friend to all who knew him,” said Reynolds.
Jim Hopson retires as President/CEO of Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Fans, members of the media and politicians have also voiced their support.
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall described Hopson on social media as a great man “who not only led our Riders back to greatness but helped change the attitude of an entire province.”
Premier Scott Moe offered his condolences to Hopson’s friends and family.
“You made the Riders a better team and Saskatchewan a better place,” Moe posted on social media.
Success on and off the field
Hopson played an important role for the football club on and and off the field.
He was born in Regina and grew up attending Roughriders games. He played high school football at Thom Collegiate and junior football with the Regina Rams before eventually suiting up as a member of his hometown team from 1973 to 1976.
In each of his four seasons with the Roughriders, the team made the west final.
In September 2010, Jim Hopson sat down to reflect on what got him into football. Hopson, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first full-time CEO and president, died on Tuesday at age 73.
The success he found on the field with the Roughriders only grew when he joined as the organization’s first full-time president and CEO, a role he would hold for a decade.
During that time the team would make it to Grey Cup Championship games in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013.
They would win in 2007 in Toronto and in 2013 at home in Regina. The organization has yet to win a Grey Cup since then.
While Hopson’s tenure brought success on the field, that wasn’t what Hopson focused on when he looked back.
“I think the proudest thing is kind of an intangible, and that was the change in attitude of our fan base and of the province toward the Riders. I felt for a long time that the team was much loved and and very well supported, but we kind of had low expectations about what we could do,” said Hopson during a news conference in 2018.
In a news release, the Roughriders touted the effect Hopson had on the business side of the organization.
The club posted a profit of just $455 in his first year as CEO, but during Hopson’s decade-long time at the helm, the organization become the Canadian Football League’s merchandising leader and outsold all eight other CFL teams combined, according to the Roughriders.
Davis said Hopson’s contribution went even farther than that.
“There might not be a Roughriders if you really wanted to be cryptic about it,” Davis said.
He said that when Hopson was hired, the team and the Canadian Football League were struggling. Hopson was able to implement changes and a governance structure to the organization that helped it thrive.
By the time Hopson retired in 2015, a Roughriders organization that was in debt 10 years before had more than $37 million in assets, according to Davis.
Hopson also helped to lay the groundwork for a move from the aging Taylor Field to the brand new $278-million Mosaic Stadium.
“I think the rest of the league kind of fell in lockstep a little bit and they’ve all improved as well, because they had to keep pace with the Saskatchewan Roughriders,” Davis said.
Hopson’s contributions earned him many honours, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the CFL’s Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award in 2014.
Hopson was inducted into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour in 2018, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Regina Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
Earlier this year, the Roughriders renamed its football operations auditorium the Jim Hopson Auditorium.
The team says that going forward, all Roughriders players and coaches will walk by the plaque honouring Hopson as they enter their team meetings to prepare to play in the stadium that Hopson helped get built.
