Grey Cup and CFL commissioner honoured at the University of Toronto

After a 70-day, 4,100-kilometre train tour and several visits across the country by plane including Iqaluit, Nunavut and St. John's, the Grey Cup finally arrived in Toronto over the weekend. The trophy, alongside CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, paid a visit to the University of Toronto campus to commemorate 100 years of Canadian football history and to unveil and plaque recognizing the Grey Cup as an event of national significance.

The CFL commissioner spoke about his tour around the country that ended in Toronto on Saturday.

"Along the journey [around the country] I think what's been really interesting is how this Cup has touched the lives of Canadians and how those Canadians have touched our lives," Cohon said.

"To the gentleman in Sarnia whose father played on the Sarnia Imperials who won the Grey Cup and found a picture of his father on the train, to the kids in Windsor who made a tribute to the train, the stories on this journey have really been remarkable and they've touched Canadian lives."

In 1909, the first Grey Cup was played at Rosedale Field in Toronto. Since then, Toronto has hosted 40 other Grey Cups, 30 of which were played at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium.

On Sunday, the city will host its 41st Grey Cup as the Toronto Argos and Calgary Stampeders get set battle in the 100th edition of the championship game at the Rogers Centre.

But as Cohon said Tuesday, to many Canadians, the Grey Cup itself is about so much more than football.

"The Dominion Institute did a survey about three years ago and they asked Canadians, 'since the birth of our nation what are the defining events?' And Canadians answered Confederation, the First World War, the Second World War, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and the Grey Cup at number seven," he said.

"That's an important testament and a strong testament of what Canadians feel about this event."