‘I think it’s about time:’ Charleston Hughes hangs up the cleats

Charleston Hughes freely admits a 13-year-old helped end his 14-year CFL career.

Hughes — a defensive end who played three seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — recently posted on social media that he was hanging up his cleats. On Wednesday, he joined The Green Zone’s Jamie Nye and Drew Remenda to explain his decision.

“It was definitely an emotional state for me (to write the post), but when it was all said and done, what finalized the decision for me was I went on a mile run with my 13-year-old daughter and she beat me in that mile,” Hughes said with a chuckle.

“After she beat me in that mile, I got back to the house and started thinking to myself, ‘Man! My knees hurt, my hips hurt, my ankles hurt — I think it’s about time.’ ”

@calstampeders @sskroughriders @TorontoArgos
Thank you to each organization for providing me a opportunity to chase my legacy as a @CFL great.
Thanks
John Murphy
John Hufnagel
Chris Jones
Donald Durett
Pat Riepma
Adam Gonzaga
Rich Stubler
Devonne Claybrooks
And many many more pic.twitter.com/HN1Umc8ghU

— Charleston Hughes (@Sackatchewan2) December 29, 2023

Hughes, 40, leaves the CFL with 136 career regular-season sacks, good for fifth on the league’s all-time list behind Grover Covington (157), Elfrid Payton (153), Bobby Jurasin (140) and James Parker (139.5).

Hughes led the CFL’s sack race five times in his career (2013, 2016-19) and recorded 35 sacks in 46 regular-season games with Saskatchewan (2018-19, 2022).

“I would say Sack No. 100 was probably my favourite because it was one of those moments where it was like, ‘OK, I got my 100th sack. Now we can start gunning for No. 1,’ ” Hughes said. “It was a milestone that I hit.

“I guess there wasn’t really a favourite sack. I’ve sacked every single quarterback that I’ve played against who has played in the CFL and I had an opportunity to play against.”

A product of Saginaw, Mich., Hughes began his CFL career in 2008 with the Calgary Stampeders — but not without a hiccup.

He attended the Stampeders’ training camp that year but was cut, a transaction that made him ponder retirement before his CFL career even began.

But before he could embark on a life away from football, the Stamps called and offered him another opportunity.

“I came back kind of revitalized, like, ‘Man, I’ve been sent home, I’ve been cut and they brought me back. At this point, it’s the point of no return,’ ” Hughes said.

“That was the one period in my football career where I got humbled (and) knew what it felt like to be cut as a player. When you come back, you come back with a greater sense of urgency, a greater sense of awareness (and) a greater sense of what it feels like to go home – and the rest is history.”

Hughes was still making CFL history as a 38-year-old, using the moves he had developed during his career and the guile of a wily veteran to take down quarterbacks.

He admits his age actually was a motivating factor during the latter stages of his career.

“What kept me going is just the drive to defy gravity, the drive to prove to people that, ‘I’m not too old. I can still do it. I can still play at a high level,’ ” Hughes said.

“The thing is, I’d probably still be playing right now if it wasn’t for COVID (which wiped out the 2020 season). Let’s be honest: That was a catastrophic thing at a very unfortunate time in my career where I couldn’t afford to take time off. I couldn’t afford to be a year removed from football.

“It hurt me. It hurt my pedigree, I guess you could say. It didn’t really hurt me physically where I didn’t feel like I could play, but it hurt me in the aspect of, ‘What is he like a year removed from now?’ ”

Hughes played only nine games with the Toronto Argonauts in 2021 and recorded a career-low two sacks. He took down quarterbacks four times in 12 games with the 2022 Roughriders, and then didn’t play in 2023.

He’s currently working at a job in Texas, but he hasn’t ruled out a return to football – especially given that a former Stamps teammate, Corey Mace, is now the Roughriders’ head coach.

Could Hughes return to Saskatchewan as a defensive line coach?

“I had a couple conversations with (Mace) about personal stuff, like what I’m doing, what’s my plan and that whole nine (yards),” Hughes said. “But I’ve had a couple conversations with a couple different coaches and they’ve expressed to me about some coaching opportunities.

“We’ll just have to wait and see how everything falls out.”