released by the Saskatchewan Roughriders<\/a> earlier this offseason, the veteran kicker has landed on his feet, signing with the Ottawa Redblacks, a move that brings both excitement and a sense of closure.<\/p>\n\u201cVery exciting,\u201d Lauther told the SportsCage. \u201cAs weird as that sounded, we\u2019re super excited for something new and looking forward to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
But make no mistake, this wasn\u2019t a typical offseason decision.<\/p>\n
For the first time in years, football wasn\u2019t the only factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been a very different off-season,\u201d Lauther explained. \u201cNot just making decisions on my own anymore with the family, kind of took some time away, wanted to go over everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
That pause came after being released from the Roughriders on February 2. For Lauther, Saskatchewan is a place where he didn\u2019t just play, he built a life.<\/p>\n
From Grey Cup glory to community visits across the province, Lauther became more than just a kicker. He became part of the fabric. And that\u2019s what made the reaction from Rider Nation hit even harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means everything,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m forever thankful, definitely consider myself a Rider for life.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not lip service. Lauther met his wife in Saskatchewan. Started a family here. Built relationships that go far beyond football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met some of my best friends for life here. People I\u2019ll consider family for life,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was the best times ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why this next chapter in Ottawa comes with mixed emotions.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an opportunity. There\u2019s a fresh start. There\u2019s also the reality of lining up against the team that defined his career. And yes, he\u2019s already thought about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to coming back and playing here even as a road kicker. That would be a cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the field, Lauther isn\u2019t standing still. He\u2019s spent the offseason making subtle but significant changes to his technique, including removing a longtime jab step in his approach, all in pursuit of greater consistency without sacrificing power.<\/p>\n
Off the field, he\u2019s balancing something new: football and family, together. And while the jersey will change, one thing won\u2019t: the connection. Lauther may be headed to the nation\u2019s capital, but Saskatchewan isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still planning to get back here a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was the best run of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Riderville, that feeling goes both ways.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no easy way to say goodbye in Riderville, and for Brett Lauther, this one still feels a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[3878,49,48,521,522,520,3290,4398,27684,27683,1893,4401,27682,4400,4399,82],"class_list":["post-622710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-agriculture","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-contests","tag-country-music","tag-gx94","tag-manitoba-news","tag-radio","tag-rider-radio","tag-saskatchewan-news","tag-saskatchewan-roughriders","tag-saskatchewan-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622710","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=622710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}