Nathan Rourke may have won Most Outstanding Player earlier this week, but it was another Canadian player standing on top of the podium on Sunday night in Winnipeg that the Saskatchewan Roughriders believe is the class of the CFL.
“He’s unbelievable. I think he’s the best player in the league, personally,” offensive coordinator Marc Mueller said of receiver Samuel Emilus. “He is awesome that guy.”
Emilus was named the Most Valuable Canadian in the 112th Grey Cup, as the Roughriders defeated the Montreal Alouettes 25-17. The 28-year-old caught 10 passes for 108 yards in the CFL title game, including an impressive 31-yard toe-tapper mid-way through the fourth quarter.
For quarterback Trevor Harris, there was never any doubt that Emilus would show up on the biggest stage. He knew the six-foot, 200-pound target was special from the moment that he first took to the field with the Riders in 2023.
“I remember a few days into camp, I was like, ‘Hey, 19 is different. This guy’s really, really good.’ He’s just continued to impress each and every day,” the 39-year-old veteran said after winning his first Grey Cup Most Valuable Player Award.
“I think it’s about time people put some respect on his name. He hadn’t made the TSN top 50 like ever, which is ridiculous. I hope he starts to get the respect he deserves. I said he’s a future Hall of Famer, and I mean that. I think you’re just going to see him stack year after year after year of being a tremendous football player in this league, and I’m super grateful that I’ve got the chance to play with him.”
Emilus was a first-round pick of the Roughriders in 2022 after splitting his collegiate career between the University of Massachusetts and Louisiana Tech. After a quiet rookie year, the Montreal native broke out with his first 1,000-yard season in 2023 and repeated the feat in 2024, earning a West Division all-star nod.
2025 was a different story, as Emilus was limited to just seven games due to various injuries, recording 37 receptions for 588 yards and two touchdowns. He saved his best performances for the playoffs, going for 100 yards to lead the team in the West Final and going over the century mark again in the Grey Cup.
“Coming into this game, I was about to give everything I had for the coaching staff, for Coach Mace, the players around me, the whole organization,” Emilus said at the podium. “I get more motivation playing for other people, my teammates and coaches, so I knew they was about to get everything out of me.”
Emilus is a pending free agent this offseason and should command a sizeable raise after his clutch performance. There are some who believe he should be the top-paid Canadian receiver in the league, if not the top one overall, though nobody in Saskatchewan will worry about that tonight.
“I don’t know about that; that’s not on me. But he is the man,” Mueller stressed. “I love that guy. Talk about a guy who works hard every day, doesn’t complain, just works his ass off. I love that guy.”
