Brett Lauther savours reintroduction to Riderville

Almost everything is the same for Brett Lauther.

One exception from the norm: The third-leading scorer in Saskatchewan Roughriders history now occupies a stall in the middle of the CFL team’s locker room at Mosaic Stadium.

Extra spots have been set up for new arrivals — primarily those who have joined the recently expanded practice roster. The familiar “Lauther” nameplate was added to one of those stalls after he was acquired from the Ottawa REDBLACKS in a trade-deadline deal on Wednesday.

“It’s crazy to be sitting here,” Lauther marvelled on Thursday, addressing reporters in Mosaic Stadium’s media room.

“I kind of come back and nothing skipped a beat.”

Lauther’s Plaza of Honour-worthy tenure with the Roughriders was thought to have concluded when he was released on Feb. 2, after seven seasons as the team’s full-time kicker.

He signed with Ottawa on April 17 and proceeded to perform in virtually flawless fashion, making 32 of 34 field goal attempts for the winless REDBLACKS.

Then came a Wednesday transaction that made Lauther a fourth-time Roughrider.

“I didn’t see it coming,” he said. “I was kind of planning the last couple of days. I was joking with my wife about being home for Halloween for the first time with our daughter. I was planning for my dad coming up (to Ottawa from Truro, N.S.) and doing a hockey and football weekend.

“I was kind of thinking when I got called into the office that they wanted to do some paperwork or stuff like that. I was told I was traded and asked where.

“It has been a blur for 24 hours to get here.”

Considering the “crazy” schedule of late, the decision has been made not to fast-track Lauther’s return to the field in a Roughriders jersey.

Dawson Hodge, who has made all five of his field-goal attempts since taking over as the kicker two games ago, will handle the placements on Friday against the Calgary Stampeders (7:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).

“(Lauther) got in pretty late last night,” Head Coach Corey Mace noted. “I don’t think it would be fair to the football team, quite honestly, to just toss him out there without an extensive work of operation with a new snapper, a new holder.

“Dawson has been on it this week, so I thought it was the right thing to do for the football team and for Brett, too.”

After Friday, the Roughriders do not play again until they meet the Montreal Alouettes on Oct. 12 at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. The Alouettes will then visit Saskatchewan on Oct. 17. A week later, the Roughriders and Edmonton Elks will meet at Mosaic Stadium on Oct. 24 in the league’s regular-season finale.

It remains undetermined when Lauther will begin his second on-field tenure with the Roughriders. Before becoming entrenched as the team’s kicker in 2018, he had practice-roster stints with Saskatchewan in 2015 and 2017.

Lauther, linebacker/long-snapper Randy Srochenski and defensive lineman Tony Simmons are the only four-time Roughriders.

Srochenski’s calls of duty spanned a period that lasted from 1994 to 2001. He played in 102 regular-season games with Saskatchewan over that time.

Simmons, oddly enough, never saw regular-season duty with the Roughriders. He was on the practice roster in 1988 before attending back-to-back training camps. He also was on the practice roster in 1990 before being claimed by the B.C. Lions. The fourth stint began in February of 1991, when the Lions returned him to the Roughriders. He was traded back to B.C. on May 31, 1991.

Part 3, in Lauther’s case, covered 114 regular-season games and concluded with Saskatchewan’s 25-17 Grey Cup victory over Montreal on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg.

Such was the conclusion to a season in which Lauther, the most accurate kicker in Roughriders history, atypically made only 72.2 per cent of his field-goal attempts.

With a back injury behind him, he connected on 94.1 per cent of his three-pointers in Ottawa, elevating his career percentage to 82.4.

“I just wanted to go out there and try to play well,” Lauther said. “Going over there in the first place, it was like, ‘Let’s see if you’ve still got it.’ I felt like I did. That’s why I wanted to go to see. If I didn’t, I could kind of retire in peace.

“I wanted to go out and play well and try to extend the career. I’ve had so much fun doing this and playing a kids’ game. I wouldn’t trade any of this for the world.

“It’s definitely surreal. Sometimes I think about what we’re doing. You get caught up in a lot of things in life and it’s a crazy world.

“At the end of the day, I’m having so much fun, whether you can see it on my face or not. I wouldn’t want to be anyone else. I’m having a blast out here.”

Lauther blasted a few kicks between the Mosaic Stadium uprights a couple of hours after meeting with the media on Thursday. Once the team resumes formal practices, he will work closely with long snapper Mike Benson and holder Oscar Chapman — two first-year Roughriders.

In the meantime, efforts will continue to resolve the number issue.

Lauther’s trademark No. 12 is now worn by rookie Malcolm Bell, who on Friday is to make his second consecutive start at cornerback.

“I’ll give you the complete update right now: I don’t know,” Lauther said with a laugh. “I met Malcolm and kind of asked, ‘What do you like? What do you like to do? Is there any way I can kind of get this figured out? Are you attached to the number of not?’ It didn’t seem like it.

“We’re kind of in the negotiating period right now. It’s his number, though. If I get it, great. If not, I’ll figure it out.

“I don’t want to say it’s the least of my worries, but I’m definitely more focused on coming here and trying to put the ball between the uprights.”