The Weyburn Beavers are preparing for the start of the 2024 season, which opens Friday night when the Moose Jaw Miller Express come to town. With an action-packed start to the season, with six games in eight days, the Beavers are also preparing for one of their biggest fundraisers of the year – the annual Sports Dinner. The dinner will be held on June 1st, and this year the guest speaker is a local legend.  

Playing football at Weyburn Comprehensive School, everyone who saw him knew there was something special about Brett Jones. He would go from his days as an Eagle to playing with the University of Regina Rams. From there, he was a draft pick of the Calgary Stampeders.  

Once he made the move to the CFL ranks, he was a stand-out, being named the CFL’s Rookie of the Year in 2013, then winning the Lineman of the Year in 2014 while helping the Stampeders to a Grey Cup victory. Fresh off the success there, Jones made a leap of faith and landed on both of his feet with the New York Giants of the NFL.  

Jones would spend six seasons playing in the NFL, where he dressed for 46 games and started 17. He spent time with the Giants, as well as the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos. After an injury in 2021, though, Jones would essentially step away from the game, despite the best efforts of teams like the Saskatchewan Roughriders to get him to come back for at least one more year.  

“I’m just really excited just to share my experience in the NFL,” said Jones of what he will bring to the dinner. “I think that there are a lot of great things in the NFL that have went on, whether that’s meeting people, some of the cool stories of just time playing and just going over my overall journey going from the small town of Weyburn, Saskatchewan to ending up in New York City was pretty cool.” 

Even after making the short trip to Regina for his collegiate career, and then off to the big leagues, Jones never forgot his hometown. Over the years he continued to do a lot for the community. He helped with the funding for the new scoreboard at Darold Kot Field, brought one of the NFL youth camps to Weyburn, and did things like visiting with Special Olympics athletes, and more.  

“I think that for me, it’s such a great opportunity to just, you know, give back to the community that gave me so much,” Jones said of all that he has done for the town over the years. “The more time I spent away, the more I realized how important Weyburn really was for who I am as a person and the player I was, each and every day I got an opportunity to play. I think that Weyburn is built up with so many great volunteers, and for me to volunteer my time it’s just an opportunity to show them respect, and just highlight what it was, and what it meant for me to be able to grow up in Weyburn.” 

Jones won’t be alone when speaking at the dinner, however. He will be joined on stage by one of the biggest off-season acquisitions of the Saskatchewan Roughriders – running back A.J. Ouellette. Fresh off of a Grey Cup win with the Toronto Argonauts last season, Ouellette signed with the Green and White on February 13th.  

Ouellete, who has put up impressive numbers in his four seasons in the CFL, had four standout seasons with the Ohio Bobcats of the NCAA before making the jump to the pro ranks. He spent time in the camps of the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns before coming to the CFL.  

Tickets for the Sports Dinner are available via the Weyburn Beavers social media pages, or from any of the board members of the team.