Before the 2022 season, A.J. Ouellette might not have been a household name in the CFL, but after filling in as the starting running back for the Toronto Argonauts, he has become a notable name across the league.
On Sunday, the Argonauts will look to cap off their season as they meet the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 109th Grey Cup.
Ouellette was pressed into duty as the Argonauts starting running back when Andrew Harris was sidelined, despite missing the five time all-star, he is stepping into the role and the Argos offence didn’t miss a beat. The running back was able to finish off the 2022 season with over 500 yards rushing in 12 games during the regular season.
The 27 year old felt his success began in training camp, when he first got to start working with the former Outstanding Canadian Award winner.
“Seeing the competitiveness in camp is where it started, I knew I was going to have a great season, even if I didn’t see the field, I was going to learn a bunch, I was going to have a guy on the football field to work hard with.”
When Harris was injured with a torn pectoral injury in August, it was believed that his season was going to be over. Despite the grim prognosis, Ouellette says the three time Grey Cup champion was helping him out immediately.
“He didn’t miss a day, he was on the sideline telling me what he saw, what to look for, he’s just a great teammate, I’ve said it before he’s a true pro on what professionalism should be.”
There aren’t too many differences between the two Argonauts running back’s style of play, that is based upon both players containing many talents in their arsenal according to Ouellette.
“It helps that we can pass block, we can run block, we can run the ball, we can catch the ball, we can block down field, we can pretty much do anything a receiver, fullback or running back can do, so it just opened up the playbook when we’re out there. ”
The former Ohio Bobcat credits the offensive line of the Argonauts for a big part of his success this season, especially since he believes that offensive line is the most difficult position to play in sports.
“There are five guys who have to think the exact same thing in a millisecond, they all have to react the same way, as the season move on we’ve seen them progress start to mesh and it has helped me as well, seeing those guys communicate better, and we saw it last game, they are physically are starting to dominate people and I think people should be scared of them. ”
It has only been a few days since the Argos arrived to Regina for the Grey Cup matchup, but the Argo thinks the running style of himself and Harris has made an impression on some members of Rider Nation.
“I’ve gotten to walk around the stadium for a little bit and get to see some of the field workers and everything, they love our style, the weather is proof on why they like our style of play, as we said in our running back, it’s not cold enough, let the snow fall, make that defence miserably cold, we’re going to have fun out there.”
Besides helping out the Argonauts on the field, the running back also gives back to the community at Covington, Ohio with his No Name Athletics gym. The idea began with him developing a clothing line when he was coming out of college. Crediting his wife with the name, the vision soon began to take a life on it’s own.
“Kind of morphed it into a No Name Athletics for all the kids back home, there’s not a sports performance gym that they can go into to learn the proper way of lifting weights, of moving and how your body should feel. ”
A strong performance on Sunday for Ouellette in the Grey Cup would definitely make a household name for years to come.
To view A.J. Ouellette’s website, you can click here. https://ajouellette.com/