Longtime Toronto Argonauts fan Bill Edwards Jr. continues to support his favourite CFL team while living in Saskatchewan for over 40 years.
A picture of his custom green-lettered license plate with the Roughriders logo beside ARGOS caused a stir on social media and Edwards Jr. reached out to 3DownNation to let us know he was the proud owner.
“The plate was a Christmas gift from my brother Edward in 2010. It has been on our GMC Envoy for 11 years now and started many discussions,” Edwards Jr. said.
“The day it was put on within a 10-kilometre drive down Victoria Ave, a fellow drove into the back of our vehicle and did $1,500 damage. He said he couldn’t believe what the licence plate said and drove into it.”
Predictably, many members of Rider Nation have been unhappy to discover an enemy intruder in their province, questioning whether the license plate should have been issued in the first place. While local fans may not have appreciated the Double Blue moving in on their territory, there were also some positive responses from fans across the country.
“Many times we have been in a restaurant or pub and we overhear: ‘Did you see that Argo plate?’ To this day it seems at least one time a day someone has their phone in hand taking a picture,” Edwards said.
“So here’s the best part, since my truck already had a personalized plate, we put it on my partner’s vehicle and she doesn’t even like football. I have been an Argos fan for over 50 years, I cheer for the Riders against everyone else but the Argos.”
Edwards Jr. was born in Oshawa, raised in Whitby and moved to the Saskatchewan capital in 1981 where he’s worked at the largest steel company in Western Canada for over 40 years, EVRAZ Regina. He has taken photos with former CFL stars Henry Burris and Ricky Foley giving the thumbs up to his plate.
Edwards Jr. proudly cheers for the Argonauts and owns a custom t-shirt: ‘I may live in Saskatchewan but my football team is in Toronto.’