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Saskatchewan Roughriders fans held ballcaps in their hands, while some wiped away tears, as the team on Thursday honoured a player and another man killed in a highway crash.
Before kickoff at the matchup against the Edmonton Elks, video screens at Mosaic Stadium played tribute to Roughrider linebacker Jayden Dalke, 30, of Leduc, Alta., and Bhishma Rajyaguru, 22, of Regina.
Attendees stood as the screens showed photos of Rajyaguru with his family and friends, and a video of him dancing played.
A voiceover said Rajyaguru was a gifted percussionist and was always there for his friends and family.
A video of Dalke then played on the screens. It showed him interacting with his teammates and fans, while a voiceover from a player described him as being the team’s glue.
A helmet with the initials ‘JD’ sat on a table behind the players’ bench.
Fans clapped once both presentations were over. There was then a moment of silence, lasting about one minute.
“What a loss,” said one man after the tributes were over.
On July 18, Dalke was reportedly driving on the wrong side of a divided highway at night when his SUV smashed into another SUV that Rajyaguru was driving. The vehicles had no passengers.
RCMP have said alcohol and cannabis were found in Dalke’s SUV, which had pulled out of a gas station with unpaid fuel about a half-hour before the crash.
Both Dalke and Rajyaguru died at the scene on Highway 11 near the town of Lumsden, northwest of Regina.
The Roughriders lost Thursday’s game 36-34. Throughout the match, fans cheered good plays while also booing referee decisions they didn’t agree with.
Roughriders Quarterback Trevor Harris later told reporters the team gave everything it had despite the circumstances of the crash.
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“I was proud of the guys in that,” Harris said. “I hope both families that we honoured are proud and could take some solace in the pre-game tribute to them.”
Corey Mace, the team’s head coach, said it’s been an emotional week.
“Just being out there and seeing both people, both victims, being represented and seeing a little bit about both gentlemen – man, it’s just so sad,” Mace said.
Cody Fajardo, the quarterback for the Elks, told reporters his team had expected the Roughriders to be emotional.
“We try to put ourselves in their shoes, the empathy in their shoes as if we lost one of our teammates, just how much you want to rally around each other,” he said.
Since police released details of the crash, some fans had headed to Thursday’s game with conflicting emotions.
Some had said they were apprehensive about going to the game, while others felt they needed to be there for the team.
At tailgating parties outside the stadium Thursday, the crash was among the topics of discussion.
Lynn Kaglea of Pilot Butte, outside Regina, said she shed a few tears.
“It’s a little bit more sombre than it’s been at other tailgating events,” Kaglea said.
She said she’s been in contact with Dalke’s parents and is planning to make them a quilt.
“I just think it’s a terrible tragedy,” Kaglea said.
Sandra Poitras of Candle Lake, northeast of Saskatoon, said she’s grateful the team honoured both men.
“Jayden was on the wrong side of the road and whatever else happened was very, very unfortunate,” she said.
“We all make mistakes, and you can’t mourn him any less just because he was the one that made the mistake.”
But the gatherings outside the stadium were also like any other.
Fans were grilling meat or eating watermelon, while others sipped beer or pop. Some were doing activities, like tossing bean bags in a hole or racing in potato sacks.
Many were wearing green and white, including colourful face paint, beads, and vibrant wigs. Some wore black Roughriders T-shirts.
“I think everyone’s doing OK,” said Shawn Fiedelleck
“I was on social media. Big mistake, you know. I’m waiting for all the facts to come out.”
Some in Rider Nation have been embroiled in online debates over the circumstances of the crash.
On various social media platforms and team fan forums, some have speculated whether Dalke was driving while impaired.
Mounties have said autopsies and toxicology tests are being conducted. A spokesperson with Saskatchewan’s justice ministry has said such results are not publicly released because they contain personal health information.
Gerri Sernick, an administrator with the Saskatchewan Roughriders Fan Page on Facebook, said she has had to remove nasty comments about Dalke, including that he doesn’t deserve to be honoured by his team.
“It was truly awful. Since I started that page, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sernick said in a message earlier this week.
“Regardless of the circumstances, two young men are not going home to their families, and that is where our focus should remain.”
To keep decorum, other fan pages and forums closed comment sections on some posts.
Kerri Ludvigsen said Wednesday police set off a “firestorm” when they released the details about alcohol and cannabis found in Dalke’s SUV.
“People grieving (now) have to see … messages that are so hurtful and disrespectful,” she said.
At the tailgating party Thursday, Kaglea said people have been “crucifying” Dalke over something that hasn’t been proven.
“As a parent, it just hurts me that people are saying those things, that his parents are seeing it,” she said.
The Roughriders have shared a GoFundMe page for Rajyaguru’s family, which had raised more than $92,000 as of Thursday night, to cover the cost of repatriating his body to India.
Rajyaguru came to Canada from the Indian state of Gujarat as an international student in 2022.
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