GUELPH, ONTARIO \u2014 As is his nature, Janarion Grant has quietly become one of the most dangerous kick returners in CFL history.<\/p>\n
Grant registered a 68-yard punt-return touchdown in the Toronto Argonauts 40-34 victory over the defending-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night. <\/p>\n
It was Grant\u2019s 11th career punt-return score, moving him into a tie for second all-time with Hall of Famer Earl Winfield, and 14th return touchdown, third-most in league history.<\/p>\n
Grant\u2019s next return TD will move him into a tie for second all-time with former Argo Bashir Levingston (15). The legendary Henry (Gizmo) Williams, inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2006, leads the CFL in total return TDs (31) and punt-return scores (26).<\/p>\n
But Grant, 32, has ascended the CFL ranks without fanfare. That\u2019s not surprising as the five-foot-nine, 175-pound American is a quiet individual who never toots his own horn. When he does speak, it\u2019s to credit his teammates, family or his faith in God for his lofty accomplishments.<\/p>\n
When it comes to scoring touchdowns, that\u2019s no big deal for Grant as he expects to find the end zone every time he gets his hands on the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my job and my goal,\u201d Grant said matter-of-factly following Toronto\u2019s practice Tuesday at Alumni Stadium. \u201cEvery time I get the ball in my hands I\u2019m trying to take it back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always confident, I\u2019ve been like that since I was little. Just have to keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday night\u2019s punt-return touchdown was Grant\u2019s first since Aug. 9, 2024 when he took one back 86 yards for a score in Toronto\u2019s 39-25 win over the Calgary Stampeders. He was named the CFL\u2019s top special-teams player that year and helped the Argos capture the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
Grant leads the CFL in punt-return yards this season (228 from 13 returns, 17.5-yard average, TD) and stands third in kickoff returns (10 for 241 yards).<\/p>\n
Toronto (2-1) visits Calgary (1-2) on Thursday night in what\u2019s a short week for both teams. The Stampeders defeated B.C. 41-33 on Saturday night. <\/p>\n
Argos head coach Mike Miller, who was the club\u2019s quarterback coach last season, said he never saw Grant press or try to do too much as he returned punts in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think sometimes you can be a victim of your own success,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI think the expectation he sets game in and game out is probably not realistic for everybody outside of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s extremely hard what Janarion does, there are so many moving parts, but I\u2019ve never seen any difference from him, his approach, the way he executes. I just think it\u2019s just one of those things that it\u2019s extremely hard what he and that unit are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant opened the scoring Friday night with his return. That play, Miller said, was huge for Toronto, especially considering it came at Mosaic Stadium versus a Roughriders team that had won its opening two regular-season games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a tremendous lift that it\u2019s almost indescribable,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe science of the game, as we say, shows the probability of winning with a return, interception return or scoop and score go up exponentially.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just on the scoreboard but what it does to the momentum, adrenalin, the lift and energy, it\u2019s just tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n
But again, Grant said it\u2019s his job to set the tone for Toronto and give the team a timely boost.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost definitely, it always sets a tone,\u201d he said. \u201cI always look to give the team a spark, without a doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I have a chance to be able to take it back, I just give it to God \u2014 I couldn\u2019t do it without him \u2014 my teammates and my family as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s special teams figured prominently in the win as veteran kicker Lirim Hajrullahu booted four field goals. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs good a player as Janarion is he\u2019s an even better person,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHe has the track record and experience, plays with great vision and is another guy who takes great pride in his work and is very passionate.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he\u2019d be the first to give credit to Mickey Donovan (Toronto\u2019s special-teams coach) and the players around him, who might be more excited when they see Janarion pop loose. It\u2019s a team effort, for sure, but as I often find myself saying, when people ask me about our players, we\u2019re sure excited JG is an Argo.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GUELPH, ONTARIO \u2014 As is his nature, Janarion Grant has quietly become one of the most dangerous kick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-772763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772763","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=772763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}