RCMP blankets the Grey Cup
By Paul Monteith
Following the championship game, RCMP officers carry the Grey Cup onto the football field.
Image by RCMP
August 7, 2026
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Blanket coverage in the Canadian Football League (CFL) usually means the defence has left no one open for the quarterback to pass the ball to. But this time, it’s something completely different.
In 2024, Jeff McWhinney, the official Keeper of the Grey Cup, designed a blanket — a Memory Blanket— to cover the Cup when it is in its case. McWhinney believes that remembrance should not only be spoken, it should be held. “The Grey Cup has travelled across Canada,” he says. “It has stood with champions, veterans, children, elders and people going through some of the hardest days of their lives. But when the Cup is at rest, I wanted it covered with something meaningful.”
“The Memory Blanket was created to rest over the Grey Cup as a symbol of honour, remembrance and gratitude,” he says. He decided to ask if the blanket could include the names of every Mountie listed in the RCMP Honour Roll — the list of officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty.
“When that blanket rests over the Grey Cup, it says something very simple and very Canadian. ‘We remember,’” says McWhinney.
An idea takes shape
Image courtesy of Keeper McWhinney
McWhinney credits many people for inspiring a passionate pride in Canada, especially his father.
“He taught me that being a champion is not just a designation. It is an obligation. That means you owe something back,” he says.
He recognized the same passion and dedication when he met Corporal Billy Gossen and Staff Sergeant Glenn Stuckless of the RCMP in 2022. Gossen was one of the members of the Honour Guard for the Grey Cup game.
“When Jeff and I met, he showed me the inside of the Grey Cup’s case,” says Gossen.
McWhinney had been collecting patches from first-responder services and every Canadian Armed Forces service and keeping them inside the case as his way of honouring their service and their sacrifices. In turn, Gossen told him about a project he had worked on years before.
“I had designed RCMP hockey sticks to raise funds to help create the RCMP National Memorial Fund,” he says.
Because of their shared interest, Gossen invited McWhinney to Depot – the RCMP Training Academy – in Regina, to watch a troop graduate.
“That is something I will never forget,” says McWhinney. “In that moment, for me, the Grey Cup became more than football, it became a bridge between sport and service, between history and the next generation.”
Honouring the fallen
Image courtesy of Keeper McWhinney
When McWhinney asked if he could carry the names of every RCMP member who has passed in the line of duty, his request was granted by the Warrant Officer for Depot, Sergeant Major Mike McGinley. Gossen then went to the Cenotaph at Depot and sent Jeff photos. They both felt that it was important to ensure they used the same wording.
“The Memory Blanket carries the names from the Honour Roll because those names are not statistics,” McWhinney says. “They are people. They are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, partners, teammates and Canadians who answered the call to serve.”
A cup of Earl Grey
The Grey Cup is the ultimate prize for players in the CFL and dates to 1909 when it was designed on behalf of His Excellency Earl Grey, then Governor General of Canada.
“The Grey Cup is not just a trophy,” says McWhinney, whose father Glenn played in the CFL and won the Cup in 1954 with the then Edmonton Eskimos. “It is one of Canada’s great history books.”
“The Cup carries the names of players, builders, coaches, trainers, families, communities and moments that helped shape this country,” he says. “Every name on the Grey Cup is a chapter.”
Image courtesy of Inspector Walcott
Inspector Ken Walcott played in the CFL for Ottawa and Toronto. Now, he’s the Operations Officer for the RCMP’s Northeast District in Nova Scotia. He says he’s thankful for McWhinney’s initiative.
“The Grey Cup represents sacrifice, teamwork, and playing for something far bigger than yourself,” Walcott says. “The Memory Blanket is a powerful reminder that while we [football players] give everything on the field for a championship, there are RCMP members who gave their lives in service to Canada. Having their names carried alongside the Grey Cup ensures they are never forgotten, and that their legacy is honoured in every community the Cup visits.”
A Canadian partnership
In 2024, the RCMP and the CFL collaborated on seven RCMP Grey Cup community tour stops and nine RCMP appreciation games in various locations across Canada. Recruitment of police officers was also the focus of two “hiring huddles” in Manitoba and British Columbia.
Later this year and in early 2027, the RCMP and the CFL are collaborating again on RCMP Community Grey Cup Community Tour stops in The Pas, Yellowknife and Whitehorse, as well as Hiring Huddles in Regina, Calgary and Toronto. Specific dates will be announced on RCMP and CFL social media platforms.
The RCMP and the CFL share many important values. “We're both proudly Canadian, value reconciliation and diversity, and work to build strong relationships within our communities,” says Sam Jaroudi, RCMP Director of Public Affairs.
“Today,” Jaroudi says, “the RCMP has several employees with connections to the CFL, including a former player, a trainer, a referee, and a cheerleader. Our employees bring a variety of abilities from their previous jobs.”
Sergeant Major of the Grey Cup
“Jeff is such an amazing supporter and ambassador for the RCMP,” Gossen says. “We like to refer to him as the Sergeant Major of the Grey Cup.”
The Memory Blanket now travels with McWhinney, as part of his Keeper’s kit. When the Grey Cup, “the chalice of our nation” as he calls it, comes to rest in its case, the Memory Blanket is gently laid over it. “In that moment,” McWhinney says, “the spirit of the fallen becomes an eternal guard of honour. Not just for the Cup, but for the country it represents.”
