Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
HAMILTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats could be without a key cog on defence this season, as safety Craig Butler is reportedly facing a season-ending injury.
The news was broken by Justin Dunk on twitter Wednesday afternoon, and would leave a hole in the middle of the Ticats’ defence where Butler has played 31 games since joining Kent Austin and the Tabbies in 2014. Dunk reports that Butler is dealing with a knee issue.
Butler, a Western graduate and native of London, Ont., spent his first three years with the Riders and emerged quickly as a defensive playmaker in the CFL. He intercepted five passes and made 47 tackles as a rookie in 2011, the same year he was selected with the 12th overall pick in the second round by Saskatchewan.
Durability has been a strength through the 6-foot-2, 196-pound defender’s career, as he’s never played fewer than 14 games over his five-year career.
After a career year in 2013 in which he won a Grey Cup on home turf with the Riders and also posted 60 tackles, three sacks, four interceptions and a forced fumble while playing in all 18 games, Butler signed as a free agent with the Ticats.
In two seasons with Hamilton Butler has made 83 tackles and recorded four sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble. He appeared in a Grey Cup in his first season with the Ticats in 2014, a last-minute loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
