Panthers' Hubbard among NFL's elite running backs as he joins exclusive Canadian club
CTV
Chuba Hubbard has reached 1,000 yards rushing this NFL campaign, joining a handful of others near the top of the league stats sheet, but also to become just the second Canadian to reach the mark in a season.
Chuba Hubbard wasn't thinking about it when some of his Carolina Panthers teammates came up to him after their loss to the visiting Philadelphia Eagles a little more than two weeks ago.
The starting running back for the National Football League club had rushed for 92 yards in the 22-16 decision – and passed a mark not just significant in annual statistical terms but in historical terms.
Hubbard has reached 1,000 yards rushing in the 2024 NFL campaign, not only to join a handful of others near the top of the league stats sheet but also to become just the second Canadian to reach the milestone in a season.
"(They) were like, 'I think we got 1,000,' and we went and checked and saw that we did," Hubbard told CTV News Edmonton last week. "We were all excited in the locker room after so it was a great achievement for all of us."
The 25-year-old product of Sherwood Park, Alta., where he played three-down football at Bev Facey high school before being recruited by Oklahoma State in 2017 to play at the top-tier U.S. college level, joined Rueben Mayes on the list of Canadian running backs to have reached 1,000 yards in an NFL season.
Mayes, who grew up in North Battleford, Sask., and played U.S. college football at Washington State, hit the mark in 1986, amassing 1,353 yards in his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints.
Hubbard said he recently found out about Mayes and the Canadian connection.
