TORONTO \u2014 In the roller-coaster that\u2019s been the Toronto Argonauts\u2019 2025 season, kicker Lirim Hajrullahu has been one of the club\u2019s few constants.<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu, 35, has been a key figure for Toronto over its last two games. On Friday night, his 48-yard field goal with no time remaining earned the Argos a 31-30 comeback win over the Edmonton Elks.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 1, it was Hajrullahu\u2019s 11-yard boot on the game\u2019s final play that gave Toronto a 35-33 Labour Day victory over Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Toronto (5-8) has won three straight to trail second-place Montreal (6-7) in the East Division standings. The two teams meet Friday night at BMO Field.<\/p>\n
Predictably, the humble Hajrullahu \u2014 pronounced HIGH-roo-LAH-hoo \u2014 praised his teammates\u2019 efforts for his late heroics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just very happy my team keeps putting me in position where I can succeed,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 the guys around me make my job easy. <\/p>\n
\u201cI find I have an easiest job compared to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto earned the victory despite falling behind 14-0 in the first half, and entering halftime trailing 14-3 on Hajrullahu\u2019s 53-yard field goal to end the second quarter. The Argos surged ahead 28-27 on Andrew Chatfield Jr.\u2019s 10-yard fumble return touchdown in the fourth but Vincent Blanchard\u2019s 31-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining put Edmonton back ahead 30-28.<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu\u2019s game-winning boot wasn\u2019t the only late drama for Toronto. Backup quarterback Jarret Doege engineered the Argos\u2019 final 40-yard, eight-play drive with Nick Arbuckle (calf) hurt.<\/p>\n
Doege took Toronto to Edmonton\u2019s 41-yard line to set up Hajrullahu\u2019s final attempt, something the veteran kicker was anticipating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way the game was going, all game long I knew it was going to come down to that,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve had enough experience by now that I love it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what makes me really enjoy the game and keep loving the game. We have field goals throughout but when it comes down to the final kick, it just makes me really happy to be able to make all of these guys around me happy by doing my job. I\u2019m very appreciative of my position and where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
The five-foot-11, 205-pound Hajrullahu is enjoying yet another stellar CFL campaign. He has made 37-of-41 field goals (90.2 per cent) and 28-of-29 converts (league-best 96.6 per cent).<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu has been especially good from 50-plus yards (four of five, long of 56 yards) while also handling kickoffs (63.6-yard average).<\/p>\n
\u201cLirim is pretty clutch,\u201d Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. \u201cGuys have confidence that we just have to get the ball across midfield and he\u2019s going to have a good chance to knock it through.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll also say there\u2019s been many games where we\u2019ve gone for the long field goal before the half trusting him that he could hit it instead of potentially giving up a big return before halftime. Having the confidence to make that decision is huge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu is coming off a stellar 2024 when he set career highs in field goals made (55), attempts (61) and percentage (90.2) while making 35-of-37 converts. The former Western Mustang ended his season making all four field goals he tried in Toronto\u2019s 41-24 Grey Cup win over Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
There are few positions in pro football under as much scrutiny as kicker. A team\u2019s fate in a game, even its playoff hopes, can often be determined by one leg swing.<\/p>\n
Many also become football nomads, playing for multiple teams. Hajrullahu, in his 12th pro season and eighth in Canada, knows that all too well.<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu is in his second stint with Toronto while also having played with Winnipeg (2014-15) and Hamilton (2018-19). He has appeared in three Grey Cups, winning twice with the Argos (2017, \u201924).<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu returned to Toronto last season following NFL stints with the Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys (2020-22). He appeared in four games, making four-of-five field goals and all eight converts while recording 17 kickoffs, before signing with the then-USFL\u2019s Philadelphia Stars in 2023.<\/p>\n
Hajrullahu still feels butterflies when he steps on to the field with a game on the line. But experience and preparation have taught him to trust the process and embrace those opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done this enough times that now it\u2019s staying focused and understanding and just staying on top of how we can prepare for these types of moments,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a little bit of butterflies but those are the fun and good butterflies that keep me more a little bit more focused.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 In the roller-coaster that\u2019s been the Toronto Argonauts\u2019 2025 season, kicker Lirim Hajrullahu has been one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-151626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}