Former equipment manager returns to Elks as community liaison

Edmonton Elks equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak is back with the team after he was let go in 2020 following 49 years of service.

A legend with the Green and Gold is making his golden return to Edmonton’s Canadian Football League club.

Long-time equipment manager Dwayne Madrusiak, who was let go in 2020 by the Edmonton Elks one year shy of his 50th year with the franchise, is back as the team’s community liaison as well as historian.

Mandrusiak said Monday he’s “back where he belongs.”

“(Returning was something) I didn’t think was going to happen,” Mandrusiak said Monday during a media conference at Commonwealth Stadium. “I hoped it would, and I’m very glad that it did.”

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The team had said letting Mandrusiak go was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic leading the CFL to cancel the 2020 season.

Public backlash was swift, with both players and fans frustrated with the decision.

Mandrusiak was a mainstay with the club, having started as a ball boy when he was 14 years old, eventually becoming the equipment manager. He was a part of the club for 11 championships.

Chris Morris, the Elks’ president and chief executive officer, says Mandrusiak’s dismissal was not a good look for the franchise and that the culture will be changing.

Along with Dwayne’s return will come the return of several elements from the past, including the sign ‘Once an Eskimo Always an Eskimo’ to the locker room.

Mandrusiak said he took the sign that dates from 1979 with him and has had it in his basement for the past several years.

The Elks returning to its roots was a big theme of the team’s media conference on Monday.

Morris says the Elks are not returning to its former nickname but says he wants to change the mindset around it.

He says Mandrusiak is a fan favourite and will help bring that sense of community back to the Green and Gold.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa