{"id":591117,"date":"2026-04-08T22:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/591117\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T22:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:01:09","slug":"two-time-all-cfl-running-back-william-stanback-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/591117\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-time All-CFL running back William Stanback retires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto courtesy: Ottawa Redblacks<\/p>\n

American running back William Stanback has retired after seven seasons in the Canadian Football League.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old spent the 2025 season with the Ottawa Redblacks, rushing for 698 yards and four touchdowns on 147 carries. He also made 36 receptions with 278 yards and on score in 17 games.<\/p>\n

Stanback set a career-high in yards from scrimmage in 2024 with the B.C. Lions. He carried the ball 231 times for 1,175 yards and three touchdowns, while also catching 46 passes for 413 yards and two majors.<\/p>\n

The native of Hempstead, N.Y. spent the first five seasons of his CFL career with the Montreal Alouettes, interrupted only by a brief stint with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. He recorded 625 carries for 3,716 yards and 11 touchdowns over 62 regular-season games with the team.<\/p>\n

Stanback was twice named All-CFL, led the league in rushing in 2021, and won the Grey Cup in 2023. In total, he rushed for 5,589 yards, caught 189 passes for 1,749 yards, returned 20 kickoffs for 476 yards, and scored 25 touchdowns over 97 CFL regular-season games.<\/p>\n

He released the following statement on social media.<\/p>\n

From my time at UCF, to my college days at Virginia Union, to chasing the dream in the NFL, to finding my home in the CFL \u2014 this game has taken me places I once only prayed about. There were moments I stood on NFL fields feeling like that little kid\u2019s dream had come true. And there were moments I was fighting just to prove I still belonged.<\/p>\n

There were seasons of celebration\u2026 and seasons of heartbreak.<\/p>\n

Losing my parents while still chasing this dream was the hardest battle of my life. There were days I didn\u2019t know how I\u2019d keep going. Days I felt empty. Days I questioned everything. But I carried their love with me every time I stepped on that field. Every run, every rep, every comeback \u2014 I did it with them in my heart.<\/p>\n

There was a time I hit rock bottom. Injuries, setbacks, doubts \u2014 I truly thought it might be over. I wondered if the dream had slipped away. But something inside me refused to quit. I kept working. Kept believing. Kept striving for greatness even when nobody was watching.<\/p>\n

Football tested me. It humbled me. It built me.<\/p>\n

To my teammates \u2014 thank you for being brothers. To my coaches \u2014 thank you for pushing me when I didn\u2019t see it in myself. To every organization that gave me an opportunity \u2014 thank you for believing in me. To the fans \u2014 you gave me strength when I needed it most.<\/p>\n

And to my parents \u2014 everything I am is because of you. I hope I made you proud.<\/p>\n

This game didn\u2019t just shape my career. It shaped my character. It taught me resilience, faith, and how to stand tall when life knocks you down.<\/p>\n

I leave the field knowing I gave it everything I had.<\/p>\n

The dream doesn\u2019t end here \u2014 it just evolves.<\/p>\n

Thank You Football<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Ottawa Redblacks American running back William Stanback has retired after seven seasons in the Canadian Football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,50470,3179,49,48,7028,521,522,520,527,14108,2002,2338,20739,70504,186895,82,225021,40640],"class_list":{"0":"post-591117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-3down","9":"tag-3downnation","10":"tag-alouettes","11":"tag-als","12":"tag-ca","13":"tag-canada","14":"tag-canadian","15":"tag-canadian-football-league","16":"tag-canadianfootballleague","17":"tag-cfl","18":"tag-football","19":"tag-free-agency","20":"tag-league","21":"tag-montreal","22":"tag-ottawa","23":"tag-redblacks","24":"tag-running-back","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-stanback","27":"tag-william-stanback"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591117","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=591117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}