Riders’ James Tuck becomes unlikely CFL veteran

James Tuck never had a football career in mind until it became a reality.

The Aurora, Ont., product’s high school — Cardinal Carter Catholic High School — didn’t have a football program, so Tuck played hockey for a lot of his youth.

“I played that until I was 19 or 20 and then just picked up football the year before going to university,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ fullback recalled. “I don’t think (Cardinal Carter) ever had (football). I played on their hockey team and locally with a club, but football was never a thought.”

The game eventually entered his life when a friend said he played for a team in the Ontario Varsity Football League and suggested Tuck should give it a try.

“I went out. I didn’t know anything, but I had a lot of fun, though,” Tuck said. “I was always a fan of football growing up. Watching it, I had never thought of playing it. I was just so busy with hockey.

“I was a physical hockey player and I thought that could translate well in football, so I gave it a try.”

Tuck enjoyed the game so much, and made a big enough impression, that he went on to play linebacker for the York University Lions for a couple of seasons before switching to defensive end.

“Even in college, I never thought of the CFL as a potential avenue until later on. I was playing for a new love of a game that I found late in life,” Tuck said. “I was always a big fan of watching football growing up. I was such a big fan of college football, NFL (and) CFL.”

In 2014, he wound up getting taken by the Montreal Alouettes in the fourth round (31st overall) of the CFL draft.

“It was pretty quiet,” he said. “I was at home in Aurora with my family and my girlfriend and we were just watching. I believe the TV (coverage) stopped and we were hanging out and then I got a phone call from Montreal and it was pretty exciting.”

It was a moment that still surprises the 32-year-old.

“In my fourth year of college, I was ready to go into my fifth year — I was doing my honours. My coach calls me up and says, ‘Hey, they have interest in you at the combine,’ I was like, ‘OK, cool.’ I did well, one combine led to the another one — the national one — and it kind of snowballed from there,” Tuck said.

“I didn’t even have a highlight film at the time. I was just worried about our team and worried about my school.”

While Tuck entered the CFL as a defensive end, he slowly made the transition to fullback, beginning with some goal-line opportunities in 2016 as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

That led to him making the position change when he got to Edmonton in 2017.

“I was backing up Calvin McCarty and I learned a lot from him and he was a great mentor,” Tuck said.

He believes his time on the defensive side of the ball has helped him excel on the offensive side.

“It definitely is a great asset knowing what your opponent is trying to do,” Tuck said. “Being in their shoes for two years at that position in university and three years in the CFL, I know what the defensive ends are trying to do to me and what they’re trying to do schematically, and that helps a lot.”

While Riders offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas was Tuck’s head coach from 2017 to ’19 in Edmonton, Tuck said that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to change to a different shade of green in 2022.

“I watched the film last year of the Riders play and I was envious watching how they were using the fullbacks, how their run game was, and how dominant they could be and I wanted to be a part of that,” Tuck said. “I’ve been on teams that don’t use (fullbacks) at all so it’s a blessing.”

The fullback position isn’t one of glamour, with the contributions to the team often falling under the radar. But that’s just fine for Tuck.

“We just like to get the lunchpail, pack our lunch and get to work. We appreciate getting recognized and stuff like that but we don’t need that to do our job,” Tuck said. “We just want to go out there and help this team achieve what we can do in the run game and get some wins.”

But that doesn’t mean Tuck doesn’t get recognized out on the streets by Riders fans.

“I’m still new to Regina so I’m picking it up but hopefully I can make this home for the next little bit,” Tuck said. “Winnipeg and Edmonton was a bit (with fans recognizing players), but here it’s something special.

“It’s so close-knit here with the community. It’s something I’ve definitely wanted to check off for a while in my career and I’m so glad I did.”

Tuck and the Riders will try to get back into the win column Friday against the host B.C. Lions after losing four of their last five games.

But despite the rough patch the Riders are in, Tuck said they remain confident in themselves ahead of Friday’s game.

Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s a silent optimism,” he said. “We’re trying to find our footing. We know what we can do and it’s frustrating and we just need to execute what we’re being taught because we have good game plans (and) we’re being put in good positions. We just need to execute.

“If you’re playing a team three games in a season, you don’t want to drop them all. You don’t want to lose two of them and win one but that’s where we are.

“We need to take a win.”