As Kristian Matte recounted the story that led to him becoming the first to lift the precious and coveted Gray Cup trophy, his eyes began to water. In seventh heaven since Sunday evening, the 38-year-old veteran refuses to look beyond the celebration and parade surrounding this conquest.
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The 1.80 meter tall, 110 kilogram man spent 13 seasons with the Alouettes. When the Sparrows last won this iconic Canadian football trophy in 2010, he was still a rookie on the sidelines. It was also the end of a victorious era.
Matte waited 13 years and experienced very turbulent times during the organization’s dark moments. But he never gave up and lowered his flag. He hoped. And every time the season started he told himself that things would be better.
Kristian Matte clinches the Gray Cup in Hamilton with the Montreal Alouettes’ win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday, November 19, 2023. USA TODAY Sports via Portal Con
“It’s really a special feeling. There are no words to describe it,” he said in the team’s season report on the locker room doors at the Olympic Stadium.
“It’s been a whirlwind since we won,” he added. I am extremely proud of the fans and our team.
“We don’t fall from heaven.”
Retirement?
Of course, Matte wants to hold on to it, because at his age he knows that retirement is approaching. Will he come back next year to defend this championship title?
“We finally made it. We won by working really hard. I don’t want to think about next year. I tell myself that two in a row would be really fun, but I’m not ready to think about it yet.”
Over the week leading up to the final in Hamilton, several teammates discussed what to do if they won. It was Marc-Antoine Dequoy who first joked about the identity of who would lift the trophy first.
It didn’t take long for Matte’s name to start making the rounds in the locker room and he was selected without hesitation.
“Thirteen years of waiting is a very long time. He has everyone’s respect. “He is a veteran who has given his heart and soul to the team,” said Dequoy, who highlighted the guard’s leadership qualities, having learned from the successes of 2009 and 2010.
“It took the little old guy on the team to lift the trophy,” joked Matte, his eyes red with emotion. Everyone wanted it for each other in that locker room.”
Different
As the 2023 campaign rolled around, Matte felt that little something in the atmosphere of the locker room and saw a little spark. Eight months later, against all odds, he and his band were crowned champions.
Photo Martin Chevalier
“I blocked the bad times and seasons of my career,” explained the man who did not want to give up. Every year I hoped. Thirteen years was a long time.”
Whatever he decides about his future, no one will be able to make him forget the intense moments he has experienced since Sunday evening. A real treat for the one who stayed in the nest for over a decade.