As the CFL's most beloved gopher, my dad gave joy to football fans — and life lessons to me

This First Person piece was written by Adam Ennis, a marketing and advertising professional in Regina. His father, Terry Ennis Jr., played the role of Saskatchewan Roughriders mascot Gainer the Gopher for decades until retiring at the end of the 2022 season.

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I was always fascinated seeing my dad transform from Terry Ennis Jr. into Gainer the Gopher, the CFL's most iconic mascot. It was like watching an athlete dress before a game.

My dad was always into sports. From what I hear, he was quite a good goaltender in his younger, hockey-playing days. That came through in the way he cared for, and suited up in, Gainer's fur.

He showed me that it was always important to wear a pair of good running shoes inside the Gainer feet. He taped up his ankles like a hockey player tapes up their shin pads.

I always asked the same question as he zipped up the front of the suit.

"How many times do you think you've zipped that thing up?"

He always responded, "thousands and thousands."

Gainer has been around since 1977 and my dad first put it on for events in the mid '80s. He shared game day duties through the '90s with a guy named Don Trevena. After that, it was just dad for decades until he retired at the end of the 2022 season.

It was around that time, when he became the one and only Gainer, that I began my career as his handler, both at games and events.

Once everything but the top piece was on, he would usually have a few minutes to sit in silence, my dad's head sticking out of a gopher's body.

I would sit with him, quietly observing as he mapped out the game in his head. Commotion bounced off the walls around us as game-day staffers, cheerleaders, opposing team members and the officials geared up.

He would hold his watch as he sat. He knew the exact minute he had to be ready. When the time came, he would say something like, "All right, I better get my ass out there," put on the head — for years it was attached to a Cooper hockey helmet — and tighten the chin strap.

That head never had any fans built into it to help with the heat. My dad never wore ice-pack vests to keep him cool. He knew he could face heat exhaustion, especially during mid-summer games, but that never deterred him.