Saskatchewan Roughriders unveil 2016 jerseys

Think of them as more improved than brand new. 

The Saskatchewan Roughriders – alongside the rest of the CFL – debuted new Adidas jerseys at Mosaic Stadium Thursday morning.

The new look isn’t too drastic, more like an upgrade from the classic look fans know and love. 

“We really liked the idea of going back to a … green and white focus,” said director of retail operations Mark Habicht. “We didn’t want to start with a clean sheet; we wanted to evolve the uniform.”

The evolution included taking away some of the features of past jerseys including the black trim, the small Rider logo on the back of the jersey and the numbers on the shoulders.

The green helmets prominently feature the updated Roughrider logo.  The white helmets are no more. 

As a nod to the team’s history, the pants pay tribute to the team’s championships. 

“We’ve added four stripes, just to the left side of the pant and that represents the four Grey Cups,” Habicht explained. “We hope to fill up the legs some day.”

“Four is not enough,” said offensive lineman Brendon Labatte, who was one of the jersey models. “I guess if that signifies the Grey Cup, we got work to do.” 

But other than that small fact, Labatte is a fan. 

“They’re nice, they’re comfy, that’s the main thing,” he said, adding the pants are more “spandex-y” making it easier to move. 

Justin Capicciotti agreed with his teammate’s review. 

“It feels great, the fit is great, even the gloves and the cleats and things,” he said, adding it was awesome to be one of the team’s models. 

Capiccotti was wearing a popular number in Rider Nation at Thursday’s reveal. He’ll be sporting number seven this season – the former number of fan favourite Weston Dressler. But while the number seven may have deep roots for many Rider fans, it’s got a personal meaning to Capiccotti too, from his days at Simon Fraser University. 

“Seven’s a very special number because when I was playing there our quarterback, he passed away and he [wore] number seven,” he said. “We retired his jersey and we used to bring the number seven jersey to games and after the win we would always hold [it] up.” 

Wearing the jersey will be a tribute to him, he said, but also fits in with linemate Shawn Lemon who is wearing number eight.

The jerseys went on sale at 9 a.m. in store and online. A men’s jersey will retail for $119.99, and women’s for $99.99 or about $10 more than the previous Reebok jersey. 

#Riderville…It’s here.

The New Green and White for 2016. #RiderNation @adidasCA @CFL pic.twitter.com/F0T82vU68p

— Sask. Roughriders (@sskroughriders) May 12, 2016