{"id":187232,"date":"2025-10-03T10:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T10:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/187232\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T10:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T10:50:11","slug":"a-j-ouellette-is-proud-to-be-a-running-back-the-last-gladiator-in-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/187232\/","title":{"rendered":"A.J. Ouellette is proud to be a running back \u2014\u00a0\u201cthe last gladiator in sports\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A.J. Ouellette<\/a> is amassing rushing yards at a rate unapproached by a Saskatchewan Roughrider since their championship season of 2013.<\/p>\n

Ouellette reached the 1,000-yard benchmark on Saturday, when the Roughriders\u2019 14th game of the 2025 CFL was a matchup with the host Edmonton Elks.<\/p>\n

The last Rider rusher to hit the milestone at a faster pace was Kory Sheets, who surpassed 1,000 yards in the eighth game of the 2013 campaign and capped a sensational season by earning Grey Cup MVP honours.<\/p>\n

That is an example of how individual success can be part of a collective effort \u2014\u00a0the context in which Ouellette appreciates the significance of gaining 1,000 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt symbolizes availability \u2026 the ability to stay healthy as a running back,\u201d he said after Thursday\u2019s practice at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get told by every person out there that running back is the worst position to play. Nobody ever wants to play that, because of all the hits and stuff that we take.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to stay healthy this long into the season, it\u2019s a tribute to the training staff and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouellette is quick to disagree with the assessment that running back is the worst position to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best position to play,\u201d he countered with a smile. \u201cIt\u2019s the last gladiator in sports, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got rid of the enforcers in hockey and people out there getting abused. O-line\u2019s tough, but \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t come any tougher than the 5-foot-8, 208-pound Ouellette, who administers at least as much punishment as he absorbs on his bruising runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we pride ourselves on,\u201d he said. \u201cThe DB is going to come in and try to make a tackle. You want to punish them to make our receivers run routes a little better on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake them limp off the field. Make them adjust their chinstrap. Call them names when they get off \u2026 do something to throw off their game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouellette\u2019s importance to the offence was underlined on Saturday, when he began and ended a 108-yard touchdown march \u2014\u00a0the Roughriders\u2019 longest drive since 2007. (See chart below.)<\/p>\n

During that extended possession, he had five carries for 58 yards, including a 31-yard scamper that was soon followed by a five-yard TD. His contributions to the 108-yarder also included an 11-yarder (to begin the trek), a nine-yarder (which set up a first-and-goal situation from the five-yard line) and a two-yarder (on second-and-one).<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this league, if you can establish a long drive like that, it gives the defence a break,\u201d Ouellette said. \u201cIt keeps our defence fresh and it breaks the will of the (opposing) defence. And, of course, I like running the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouellette has carried the ball 204 times \u2014\u00a0already a career high \u2014\u00a0with four regular-season games remaining.<\/p>\n

The previous peak total for carries was 178, in 15 games with the 2023 Toronto Argonauts. He rushed for 1,009 yards that season before signing with Saskatchewan as a free agent the following February.<\/p>\n

At this rate, Ouellette will carry the ball 262 times, which would be the 11th-best in team history and the fourth-highest by anyone not named George Reed.<\/p>\n

With 1,057 rushing yards, Ouellette is only four behind B.C. Lions tailback James Butler\u2019s league-leading total of 1,061.<\/p>\n

Saskatchewan has not boasted a CFL rushing leader since 1996, when Robert Mimbs gained 1,403 yards. Receiver D\u2019Sean Mimbs, Robert\u2019s son, is on the Roughriders\u2019 practice roster.<\/p>\n

In total, the Roughriders have had a rushing kingpin eight times. Reed accomplished that feat from 1965 to 1969, inclusive, and again in 1974. Mike Strickland led the loop in 1978. It was Mimbs\u2019 turn in 1996.<\/p>\n

Ouellette enters Friday\u2019s game against the host Ottawa REDBLACKS having rushed for one touchdown in each of the Roughriders\u2019 past four games. Tack on a TD reception and he has a team-best eight majors.<\/p>\n

Even at this stage of the season, Ouellette boasts the highest touchdowns total by a Roughrider since 2019, when William Powell had 14 touchdowns (12 on the ground and two via receptions) and quarterback Cody Fajardo ran for 10 scores.<\/p>\n

Powell, with 1,093 yards in 2019, and Ouellette are the only Roughriders to reach 1,000 since Sheets exploded for 1,598 in 15 games with the 2013 edition.<\/p>\n

\u201cCredit to A.J. and, obviously, the offensive line and the receivers,\u201d Head Coach Corey Mace said. \u201cThey\u2019re blocking their tails off for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been doing a great job. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s happy he could cross the 1,000-yard mark, but he just wants to keep winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROUGHRIDERS\u2019 LONGEST DRIVES<\/p>\n

109 yards at Edmonton, Nov. 12, 1956 (concluded with a four-yard TD pass from Frank Tripucka to Harry Lampman in a playoff game).<\/p>\n

109 vs. Edmonton, Sept. 21, 1963 (Ron Lancaster to Dale West, eight-yard TD pass).<\/p>\n

109 vs. B.C., Oct. 24, 1971 (Bubba Wyche to Gord Barwell, five-yard TD pass).<\/p>\n

109 at Calgary, July 18, 1991 (Rick Worman to Willis Jacox, 106-yard TD pass).<\/p>\n

108 at Ottawa, Oct. 29, 1994 (Tom Burgess, one-yard TD run).<\/p>\n

108 at Hamilton, Oct. 14, 2007 (Kerry Joseph, 14-yard TD run).<\/p>\n

108 at Edmonton, Sept. 27, 2025 (A.J. Ouellette, five-yard TD run).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A.J. Ouellette is amassing rushing yards at a rate unapproached by a Saskatchewan Roughrider since their championship season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-187232","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\/187232","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=187232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}