The Edmonton Elks will celebrate the life of the late Christian Saulsberry during Sunday’s home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The team will have ’25’ painted in each end zone in honour of the number Saulsberry wore during his time with the organization.
Running back Kevin Brown, who was a friend and roommate of Saulsberry, will carry a ‘Saulsberry 25′ flag to midfield. There will also be a moment of silence and tribute videos shown featuring highlights of Saulsberry’s time with the Elks, as well as his teammates sharing their memories.
Players on the Elks’ active roster will wear a ‘Saulsberry 25’ patch on their helmets, while non-active roster players will wear ‘Saulsberry 25’ shirts and all Elks staff will wear ‘Saulsberry 25’ pins.
The game will be attended by members of Saulsberry’s family, including his mother Melissa Smith, father Vince Smith, sister Caitlyn Smith and grandmother Erma Saulsberry.
The five-foot-eight, 188-pound speedster dressed for eight games with the Elks and recorded 19 punt returns for 235 yards, 34 kickoff returns for 635 yards, three missed field goal returns for 78 yards, one carry for seven yards, and one reception for 17 yards. He finished 26th league-wide in combined yardage in 2022 despite playing only eight games.
Saulsberry tragically passed away on December 17, 2022 at the age of 25 in Memphis, Tennessee.
