Gainer the Gopher is the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. The Gainer costume is modelled after the

Richardson's ground squirrel Richardson's ground squirrel (''Urocitellus richardsonii''), also known as the dakrat or flickertail, is a North American ground squirrel in the genus ''Urocitellus''. Like a number of other ground squirrels, they are sometimes called prairie do ...

, commonly referred to as a "gopher" in many parts of North America. He is from Parkbeg. Gainer, whose name is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of '' Regina'', made his first appearance in 1977 and has been entertaining Rider fans ever since. In 2006, Gainer was given the jersey number 13, symbolizing his contributions as the "13th man" on the field. Prior to this, he wore the jersey number . He also has two cousins named Leonard and Goof that usually only appear at Roughrider home games. Gainer continues to be an ambassador for the Riders both at

Mosaic Stadium Mosaic Stadium is an open-air stadium at REAL District in Regina, Saskatchewan. Announced on July 12, 2012, the stadium replaced Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field as the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders. It wa ...

during the football season and at community events all over Saskatchewan throughout the year. Gainer was first 'played' by Don Hewitt of Regina in 1977. Don Hewitt was a reporter and on-air personality with CTV Regina from 1975 to 2021.

Controversies

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

officials barred Gainer from appearing on-field during their west division semi-final game against Saskatchewan, arguing that it would attract attention away from their own mascot. In a 2019 game against the

B.C. Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

, the mascot was criticized for dragging a stuffed lion plush by its tail and grabbing it at its crotch. During the Roughriders'

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

home opener on July 1, 2019, the team unveiled a new iteration of Gainer with a noticeably slimmer appearance and redesigned face with white eyes and green pupils. The new design was met with criticism from fans on social media, as well as former

premier of Saskatchewan The premier of Saskatchewan is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The current premier of Saskatchewan is Scott Moe, who was sworn in as premier on February 2, 2018, after winning the 2018 Saskatch ...

Brad Wall Bradley John Wall (born November 24, 1965), is a Canadian former politician who served as the 14th premier of Saskatchewan from November 21, 2007 until February 2, 2018. He is the fourth longest-tenured premier in the province's history. His so ...

—who dubbed it "

midlife crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle age, middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a pe ...

Gainer", and joked that he had been on "some sort of

fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defini ...

". The design was revised for the next home game on July 6, switching to black pupils; a video announcing the change featured Gainer throwing away green

contact lenses Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

References

''CTV'' coverage of the ban of Gainer

External links

Gainer the Gopher on Facebook

Gainer the Gopher on Twitter

Gainer's page at Riderville.com

Notes

Saskatchewan Roughriders Canadian Football League mascots Rodent mascots 1977 establishments in Saskatchewan Fictional characters from Saskatchewan {{Mascot-stub Mascots