Age is just a number for Riders’ Charleston Hughes

Charleston Hughes is happy to show his doubters he can still play.

“A lot of people try to count you out the older that you get in age,” the 38-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end said.

“When I look at people like (44-year-old Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback) Tom Brady and other people like that who play at a later age in life and continue to have success, it’s actually quite motivating.

“I hope it’s motivating to other people in the league to know that you can still take care of your body and still perform at a high level no matter what your age is.”

While Hughes isn’t being used as often as he has in the past, the Saginaw, Mich., product has been making the most of his opportunities, grabbing two sacks in four games for the Riders this season.

With Pete Robertson (ankle) and A.C. Leonard (shoulder) both on the Riders’ six-game injured list, Hughes is being called upon more in the game plan.

“It’s no different from any younger player on this team or any rookie: You’ve got to wait your opportunity and when your number is called, you’ve got to perform,” Hughes said. “They know I’m in that same situation where every time I’m caught up, I’m going to do what I have to do.”

Hughes added Sack No. 134 to his resume in last week’s game against the Toronto Argonauts. He will look to add another to that total on Friday against the B.C. Lions.

Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 5 p.m.

It has been a long journey for Hughes in his football career.

As a wrestler and track athlete growing up, Hughes didn’t start playing football until high school.

When it came time to graduate, only one school gave him an offer – Northwood University.

“When you only got one offer coming out of high school, and it’s the one school that’s maybe 20 minutes away from your home, I guess it means a lot,” Hughes said. “My family got a chance to see me play there (and) my friends got a chance to see me play there. So it was a great opportunity. I probably wouldn’t trade it for nothing.”

With Hughes trying to determine his next steps after college, John Murphy of the Calgary Stampeders reached out to Hughes to offer him a job there.

Hughes joined the Stamps in 2008, racked up five sacks and helped the Stampeders win the Grey Cup in his first season.

“It was actually quite the story, man,” he said. “Maybe even eight or nine players on defence were all rookies at that time and we all won the Grey Cup together as rookies and it was an experience that we were like, ‘Yeah, this is easy. We won our rookie year.’ But over the years, man, it’s not as easy as I thought it was the very first year.”

One of the biggest culture shocks for Hughes coming to Canada was how people would notice him on the street and just strike up a conversation with him.

“You’ve got people that start recognizing you for what you do on the field, which is an amazing thing to have. The fans really appreciate what you do on the field. I appreciate them just as much as they appreciate me and what I do on the field,” Hughes said.

Hughes played 10 seasons in red and white with the Stamps, recording 99 sacks over that time.

But despite all his success there, the Stamps traded him to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Feb. 2, 2018.

“I wasn’t mad. I mean, it is what it is in the end — football is a business,” Hughes said. “The (general manager) or the head coach, they deemed it to be the right decision at that time. Whether it is the right decision or whether it was a mistake, that’s all up for debate.

“But I guess one of the real things is when I leave (Calgary), do I have success? Do I have the same success? And I think I’m still as successful as when I was there as when I left, so (is it) their loss?”

Later that same day, the Ti-Cats sent Hughes to the Riders in exchange for quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.

Hughes had two of the most productive seasons of his career in Saskatchewan, recording 15 and 16 sacks in two seasons.

Hughes was set to stay in Saskatchewan in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season.

With no football season, Hughes and then-teammate Makana Henry had to find a way to stay in shape.

“We were pretty much running up apartment stairs. I was doing virtual workouts with fans and friends,” Hughes said. “It was definitely different.”

The Riders and Hughes couldn’t reach a deal for the 2021 season, which led to him signing in Toronto with the Argos.

“(When I left Saskatchewan) it was a bittersweet situation that was going on,” Hughes said on May 10 after he re-signed with the Riders. “I didn’t want to leave the team but it ended up happening that way anyways just because we couldn’t get a deal done at the time and I learned a lot from that. I learned that sometimes it’s not all about the money.”

Hughes is continuing to climb the all-time sacks leaderboard. He’s now tied with Jon Bowman – now the Lions’ defensive line coach – for sixth all-time.

“It really means a lot (to tie him) especially because I know he’s going to be here this weekend,” Hughes said. “So I’ll make sure I’ll break his record this weekend.”