Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Tommy Nield will always be a part of Saskatchewan Roughriders lore.
The six-year veteran of the Canadian Football League wars enjoyed a breakout season with the Green and White in his first and only campaign with the club, catching 42 passes for 535 yards and five touchdowns across 11 games in 2025.
Not too shabby, but it was one catch in the biggest moment of the campaign to that point that made him a Rider legend.
With 12 seconds left in the West Division Final against the B.C. Lions, Nield would haul in a three-yard touchdown pass with a defender all over him to secure a 24-21 Saskatchewan victory and send the Riders to the Grey Cup.
This past off-season, Nield took advantage of free agency to join the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and on Sunday night, he’ll play his first game in Saskatchewan since the move.
As it turns out, that contest just happens to be the Labour Day Classic.
The Rider Broadcast Network’s Teagan Witko caught up with Nield at the team hotel on Saturday and chatted about what it’s going to be like returning to Mosaic Stadium — especially in the Classic.
“I'm super excited, I know it's going to be a great environment,” Nield said. “The fans out here always bring the energy and I’m looking forward to being on the other side of it this year. I have a lot of good memories in that stadium from last year, so I'm looking to make some more, just in the color blue this time.”
Nield had a touchdown in Saskatchewan’s 34-30 win over Winnipeg on Labour Day last season and remembers just how special that moment was.
“You can feel how much it means to people in Saskatchewan and also Winnipeg fans making the trip down,” Nield said. “And just the energy in the stadium is what you really remember.”
Nield has had a decent campaign with Winnipeg with 32 catches for 402 yards — the second highest totals of his career thus far — and gives Saskatchewan credit for helping him become the player he is today.
“I think it just helped me kind of take that next step in my game and be in more of a consistent starting role,” he said. “Knowing that I'm capable of doing these things and kind of just keep stacking good days.”
Winnipeg is coming off one of their biggest wins of the season, as they took a 44-28 victory over the 10-2 Montreal Alouettes. Their success in that game sounds much like what the Riders are also trying to accomplish each and every outing.
“I think we were just playing complimentary football, offense, defense, special teams were kind of firing it on all cylinders,” Nield said. “When maybe one of those one-third had a setback, the other two-thirds was there to pick them up. So that's what it's about, and when you're playing complimentary football and everyone's just doing their job, it usually works out.”
The Rider Broadcast Network will have all the action on Sunday beginning with the pregame show at 2 p.m. Teagan Witko and Wes Cates will be joined by plenty of special guests, and Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the game call at 5 p.m.
