Welcome Home: AJ Ouellette excited to embrace Riderville

Rob Vanstone

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and AJ Ouellette hammered out a free-agent deal.

As a result, Ouellette — who embraces the persona of Thor, a superhero — travelled to Saskatchewan and met the media at Mosaic Stadium during a very hectic Wednesday.

Wearing a backwards ball cap while sporting his trademark blonde mullet and long beard, the 28-year-old running back was introduced to Rider Nation as a player and, moreover, a personality.

“Home, baby!”

🏡 @Ouellette_AJ12 pic.twitter.com/cUxaYr7i8o

— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) February 14, 2024

Which brings us back to the hammer.

“Everybody wants to be a superhero, right?” said Ouellette, who was named a CFL East Division All-Star last season after rushing for 1,009 yards with the Toronto Argonauts.

“I’ve had a long line of wanting to be the Hulk. I wanted to be Captain America. I wanted to be all these different superheroes.

“Someone called me Thor one day and I was like, ‘You know what? Thor’s a great superhero to try to be.”

Thor Odinson, to be specific, is a Marvel Comics creation who, according to Wikipedia, carries an “enchanted hammer that enhances his abilities to fly.”

Suitably, Ouellette flew to Regina — with the aid of an aircraft — and appeared at a media conference, seated near a hammer that was strategically placed on a table in Mosaic Stadium’s media room.

“My nephew bought me a Thor hammer from Toys ‘R’ Us,” he recalled. “We were going to Hamilton for a game and I was like, ‘You can’t beat having a hammer in The Hammer,’ so I just brought it for a sideline gag.

“There was some chirping going on during the game and some stuff said to some of my O-linemen that I didn’t appreciate. We kind of had the sealing touchdown and our punter, John Haggerty, had the hammer waiting. I said, ‘Yeah, this is coming on the field.’

“The CFL loved it and the fans loved it, so that’s how the hammer came to life.”

The offence also comes to life when Ouellette is on the field, as evidenced by his 2023 average of 5.7 yards per carry and the 10 touchdowns — eight rushing, two receiving — he scored in 15 games last season.

“He’s a downhill runner,” said Roughriders Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day, who signed Ouellette to a two-year contract. “He’s very physical as a player.

“There’s his work ethic, his grittiness and his toughness.”

Those attributes were instilled when Austin James Ouellette was growing up in the small Ohio community of Covington.

“It is a place that, when I was playing, would close down on game day,” he recalled. “That’s kind of the feel I get here. It’s much larger than where I grew up, but smaller than where I’m coming from.”

The son of childhood sweethearts Phil and Jody Ouellette and the proud brother of Ashlie was among 47 members of Covington High School’s Class of 2014.

While in high school, he excelled in football, wrestling and track and field. He competed at the state level in the latter two sports, but football was always No. 1.

As a junior with the Covington Buccaneers, he rushed for 2,434 yards and scored 46 touchdowns. He added 42 majors and 2,533 yards as senior. One fine day, he set a school single-game record by rushing for 353 yards.

Despite those eye-popping numbers, Ouellette was not inundated with offers from major college programs.

“I always knew I wanted to play collegiate football at a big-time program, but unfortunately the only interest I primarily received came from smaller schools in Division II and Division III,” he wrote on ajouellette.com.

“After visiting some bigger schools, I decided to walk on at Ohio University because I felt the coaches were genuine when they indicated they would give me a chance to prove myself.”

He proved himself many times over, rushing for 3,833 yards over four full seasons with the green-and-white-clad Ohio Bobcats. He posted peak totals of 1,306 rushing yards and 14 TDs (12 on runs and two on receptions) as a senior in 2018.

After NFL stints with the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns, Ouellette joined the Argonauts in mid-September of 2019.

He was used sparingly until 2022, when he rushed for 516 yards in 13 regular-season games. Most notably, he scored two touchdowns to help Toronto edge the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23 in the 2022 championship game, which was played at Mosaic Stadium.

“I’ve played here twice — one being the Grey Cup, which was a good turnout, and last year was my 1,000-yard game,” Ouellette noted on Wednesday, adding that he fancied the notion of “just continuing great games in the stadium.”

Away from the Roughriders’ home venue, Ouellette has also developed an appreciation for the degree to which football is part of the DNA in Saskatchewan.

“Even just in the hotel, the Sask fans are just fans of football,” he said. “I just want football fans.

“That’s what I am. I’m a football player. I’m not really a running back. I’m just here to play the game and do what I have to in order to win.

“The community and how they appreciate the game of football and the way it should be played is the reason I’m here.”
Another reason is the presence of newly hired Head Coach Corey Mace, who spent the past two seasons as the Argonauts’ Defensive Co-ordinator.

“He was probably the leading cause of my decision,” Ouellette said. “It’s just the way that he coached and the way that he leads men.

“He’s a coach and a father and a husband and a guy who someone in my situation can look up to.”

During the two years in which Mace and Ouellette were colleagues with the Argonauts, the team won a Grey Cup and followed up in 2023 by tying a long-standing league record for regular-season victories (16).

“Having someone who worked with him in the past and Coach Mace speaking to his character and what he brings to the field was a big part in the decision to try to target him in free agency,” O’Day said.

“We’re excited to have him. He’s one piece of the puzzle and he’ll fit in real well with the guys who we have.”

Ouellette seems to be an easy fit in any environment, given his affable and interactive nature.

“He’s big into social media and he’s an excitable guy but, when you meet him, he’s different than what he’s perceived to be on the field and a little different in person,” O’Day said of the 5-foot-9, 210-pounder.

“He’s a guy who lives in the weight room and spends a lot of time preparing to be a football player.”

Or, if a void in the schedule allows, a wrestler.

Last year, Ouellette — a long-time fan of WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin — made his professional grappling debut, appearing in a card that was organized by the Toronto-based Greektown Wrestling promotion.

Most memorably, he slammed an opponent through a table to set up the winning pin.

As much as Ouellette enjoyed that experience, he covets victories of a different description.

“I want to see a packed stadium because we’re winning,” he said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.

“I know the passion behind it so, once the wins start stacking up, this stadium is going to be rockin.’ ”

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