Running back Butler is good with whatever role Ticats have in mind
CBC
James Butler gives the Hamilton Tiger-Cats something they haven't had in a very long time.
The five-foot-nine, 210-pound running back signed a two-year deal with Hamilton as a CFL free agent after rushing for 1,060 yards last season with the B.C. Lions. The Ticats haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2009-10 when DeAndra' Cobb ran for 1,207 and 1,173 yards, respectively.
Butler was surprised to hear Hamilton hasn't had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2010 but isn't heading into the season intent on ending that drought.
"I never would've went into last year saying I was going to be the next 1,000-yard rusher in B.C.," Butler said. "All I can do is go out every week and give the best I can.
"If I get 1,000 yards, awesome. All that really matters is trying to win as many games as we can to hopefully be in the last one that's going to be here this year."
That would be the '23 Grey Cup on Nov. 19 at Tim Hortons Field. The Ticats appeared in the '21 Grey Cup, also at Tim Hortons Field, losing 33-25 in overtime to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Hamilton last won the Grey Cup in 1999, the CFL's longest championship drought. Butler is prepared to play whatever role he's required to within the Ticats' offence.
"You're always going to get the maximum effort out of me, like it always has been," he said. "Sometimes it's a heavy run game, sometimes it's a heavy pass game.
"For me personally, whatever job and opportunity I get in a game I just want to make the most of it."
Hamilton was ranked seventh in CFL rushing last season at 91.6 yards per game. Wes Hills, now with the USFL's New Orleans Breakers, was its rushing leader with 384 yards (5.6-yard average) and a TD.
In fact, Hamilton's top three rushers combined for 1,054 yards and three TDs, less than what Butler accumulated with B.C. Only Calgary (league-best 135.3 yards), Winnipeg (113.5) and Edmonton (102.4) averaged over 100 yards on the ground with No. 4 B.C. being close (99.7 yards).
"We just want (Butler) to bring his skill set," said Orlondo Steinauer, Hamilton's head coach/president of football operations. "I thought Wes Hills was a downhill back, we thought Don Jackson did a great job of revamping our game and (Sean Thomas) Erlington coming into their spot so we felt we were adequate at that.
"When you acquire something you don't try to force-fit it. We just want him to bring his skill set rather than say, 'This is what we want to be.' He will be a big part of it but obviously it starts up front with our O-line."
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was Hamilton's biggest off-season acquisition but it also added Joel Figueroa, a towering six-foot-five 320-pound offensive tackle, in free agency. Figueroa will certainly be counted on to keep Mitchell clean but also bring some nastiness up front and help provide Butler with running room.
More Albertans are waiting longer than clinically recommended for critical cardiac and cancer surgeries, sparking concern among health experts and calls for urgent action.
There have been four collisions involving transport trucks in northwestern Ontario in three days, prompting renewed calls for action to address ongoing safety concerns along Highway 11-17.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives will huddle behind closed doors at a policy convention this weekend as some Tories question the party’s direction after nearly eight years in power.
The father of a three-year-old girl that was killed after being struck by a vehicle in Cambridge in mid-December says recent charges laid to the driver bring little comfort and relief.
The start of kindergarten can be a time of excitement or anxiety for parents, guardians and children — and also for Prince Edward Island's education officials as they try to staff schools appropriately.
Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC)’s proposed hydro project is facing some backlash in Pangnirtung.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will take to the stage Friday for what could be one of the most important speeches of his political career as he tries to convince delegates at the party's Calgary convention to keep him in the job.
As his flight departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport en route to Kuwait via Istanbul, Canadian crypto fugitive Andean Medjedovic was unaware that his globe-trotting lifestyle would soon be halted.
One of the largest taxi companies in Toronto will be down to three wheelchair-accessible cabs by the end of March, as advocates and providers say the city is failing to support accessible taxi drivers.
As a deep freeze continues to envelop southwestern Ontario at the same time municipalities deal with a pressing shortage of road salt, there's a renewed focus on finding different ways to melt road ice.
Dave Lawson is a proud Canadian who has bumper stickers that say "Canada is not for sale." He's fed up with grocery products plastered with maple leaves and patriotic logos that turn out to be American imports.
The Town of Badger has issued an evacuation order for some residents as water levels on the Exploits River continue to rise.
The head of a national seniors' advocacy organization says protecting nursing home residents from sexual abuse is an important but challenging issue.