Roughrider kicker Brett Lauther waited almost 5 years for another chance

Brett Lauther refused to call it quits when times were tough and Roughriders fans owe him for it.

The 28-year-old first entered the CFL when he was drafted by Hamilton in 2013. Lauther had to wait 13 weeks before getting a chance to kick in a regular season game. He didn't disappoint when he got that first chance, nailing four field goals on four attempts.

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Lauther saw action in the next three games, but he was replaced as the starting kicker after going 0-1 on Oct. 14, 2013. Somehow, it took another 1,705 days — almost five years — before Lauther would attempt another regular season field goal.

CBC's Peter Mills spoke to Lauther to find out why he never gave up, what it's like to become an all-star in Saskatchewan, and the importance of family and friends.

Get the name right

Lauther's name has been part of some of the Roughriders most important plays this season. But are the broadcasters and fans saying it correctly?

"LAW-ther," he said. "I've heard it a million different ways. Whatever. It all works."

A kid from the hub of Nova Scotia

Lauther grew up in the town of Truro, N.S., which is home to about 12,000 people.

"It was awesome," he said. "It was a great childhood. I had awesome friends, family, everything, so it was pretty awesome for me.

"Everyone was just a kid looking up to these guys, and even when I was growing up, just going to like the local Junior A games and everything else, I thought it was pretty cool. So just any way I can give back to the kids today is what I'm trying to do.

"I remember being a young kid and just being so influenced by people that were older playing sports and doing everything else. I was just trying to do the same thing and pay it forward, pass it on." 

Family first

Lauther has a younger sister back home in Nova Scotia. 

"I miss her so much during the season and just try to FaceTime and stay in touch with her while she's going through school and her sports and everything like that. I'm always in the loop with her and definitely miss her and can't [wait] for the off-season to see her again."

Nearly every time a reporter quizzes Lauther about how he became such a successful football player, he sincerely points to family and friends.

"I wouldn't be here without them," he said. "Where I've been and what I've been through to try to get to this point, it's just something I don't want to take for granted. I've got a lot of family members, friends, cousins, it's such a long list I don't like to start naming people because I'll forget people and then feel bad."

He doesn't want to leave anyone out, but Lauther was also willing to shine a light on his dad.

"My dad's kind of just given up everything to put me and my brother and the rest of our family where we're at," he said. "He just sacrificed everything at a young age. He had me at a young age and raised me and my brothers on his own.... I have an awesome stepmom and whole family as well, but yeah, my dad's definitely been like the No. 1 guy or person in my life that I look up to for sure."

Good enough then, even better now

For nearly five years, Lauther spent a lot of time on CFL practice rosters. Sometimes he was with a team all season, other times he'd be there for only a few days. A lot of Roughriders fans might not even realize he previously wore green and white for a month in 2015. 

Despite the long game-action drought, Lauther never doubted his abilities.

"I felt like I was good enough then and just couldn't quite get the opportunity," he said. "It's like that in pro sports. I just didn't want to give up.... it was definitely a long journey and it wasn't an easy one but I'm here now."

"I got the drive from my dad and how hard he works," Lauther said. "Family, friends coming out with me and supporting me and pushing me to keep going when times were tough, I just always kept grinding because I was watching [CFL games] and I felt like it was something I could do and when it's something I know I can do, I just kept going."

Attitude is one thing, preparation is another. Lauther said he had "a ton of people" willing to work out with him and shag balls for him.

"I had my little sister out, my dad would be waking up early with me, my brother out in Vancouver, friends, family, anyone, everyone was kind of supportive of this."

Mind games

Being able to kick a football 50 yards through the uprights is one thing. Having the confidence to do it mentally is another. Lauther said he's worked hard on the latter over the years.

"That was one of the biggest things for me," he said. "I always had the physical attributes to do what I was doing, but the mental side of things it was just tough. Like I didn't play in front of a lot of fans in high school or just played at a small university [Saint Mary's] and a lot of my teammates now are used to playing in college when there's like 100,000 people.

"Just controlling what I can control instead of worrying about this stuff, that's kind of one of the biggest things over the years that I try to do and it's kind of got me to now. So I'm just trying not to look back."

Lauther's classic celebration 

Lauther was certainly mentally tough during the 2019 Labour Day Classic. Aside from Dave Ridgway's 1989 Grey Cup-winning field goal, it could go down as one of the most memorable field goals in Roughriders history.

Not only did Lauther kick the rival Blue Bombers to the curb, his celebration was something no one at Mosaic Stadium that day will forget. 

Winning the game for his team obviously felt good. But how was the brew?

"It was surprisingly pretty cold for how late in the game it was," Lauther said. "I had two in my hand before that that got knocked around in the mayhem and then when I got my hands on another one there — sorry to whoever's beer that was — I just had to do it. Me and Jon [Ryan] said we were gonna do it earlier that week and then once we say we're gonna do something we just had to do it."

A regular guy

Despite his growing lore in Rider Nation, Lauther still enjoys being a regular guy.

"I just walk around the grocery store anywhere I am like everyone else," he said. "I don't really want to be recognized or be that famous person. That wasn't really why I was trying to do it.

"The Rider fans and everything online, they've been great here and I really appreciate everything they do and how much they support our team, that's for sure."

Throwing up on Jacob's Ladder

Lauther can be a very serious guy when it comes to focusing on his job, but he was also willing to answer some not-so-serious questions.

Click on the audio below to hear Lauther talk about being a Bluenoser, a stairway that does not take you to heaven, and much more.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The Roughriders take on the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field on Saturday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. CST.

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