Kory Sheets Takes Grey Cup MVP

Tom Hanks and Martin Short might have been in the building, but Kory Sheets was the biggest star at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday night.

He powered the Saskatchewan Roughriders to their fourth Grey Cup championship in franchise history with a record setting performance along the ground on his way to the Most Outstanding Player award.

Sheets ran for an out-of-this-world 197 yards on 20 carries and added two touchdowns for good measure in the Riders' 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He had the Tabbies chasing him all over Taylor Field throughout the game.

As big as his performance was, Sheets gave all the credit to his offensive linemen and fullbacks after the game for making holes for him to run through.

“Whenever they get their mind to it and want to block somebody, I can close my eyes and run the ball because I know that I'm not going to get hit,” said the second-year back out of Purdue.

“For me to win the MVP, it speaks volumes about what those guys up front do because I couldn't have won the MVP without those guys up front. Everybody in here is amazing, this is a team win.”

It may have been a team win, but Sheets had a big part in it as he allowed the Riders to control the ball and the clock during the game, just as they did in the West Final in Calgary. When Sheets carried the ball more than 14 times this season, the Riders were 13-0 during the regular season and playoffs.

“It means everything, it shows me that no matter how hard I work I can make to where I want to be, no matter what I go through I can make it to where I want to be,” said Sheets. “For me personally, this is a real feeling, this is great and it's amazing.”

The yards came slow to start for Sheets in the Grey Cup, but once he got going in the second half, he was able to roll off runs of 15, 18 and 20 yards on three straight carries to begin to pile up the yards.

“This was the exclamation point that the offensive line has been looking for all year long, great unit,” said Brendon LaBatte, offensive guard and CFL Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman. “It's sad that's going to be our last game, but there's no better way to go out.”

Sheets saved his two biggest games rushing for the two biggest games of the season, picking up 177 yards rushing against the Calgary Stampeders last week before adding 197 to that on Sunday.

“Big time players make big time plays in big time games, that's really all it was,” said Sheets, who finished second in the CFL in rushing yards with 1,598 before adding 442 more during the post-season.

“I expect my play to be like that week in and week out, but some days it don't work like that and you've got to depend on the pass, but today we depended on a run and we came through and won it for us,” he added.

Sheets will now get the offseason to bask in the glory of his outstanding Grey Cup performance, which is a number that not even the great George Reed hit during a championship game.