Ottawa Citizen

Return caps two-year recovery for Kackert

- CHRIS O’LEARY coleary@edmontonjo­urnal.com twitter.com/olearychri­s

Chad Kackert has spent almost two years wondering, searching for an answer that was proving to be as elusive as he used to be on the football field.

The Toronto Argonauts running back was the Grey Cup’s Most Outstandin­g Player in 2012 and was putting together a decent season in 2013 when his life in the CFL came out from under him with a brutal injury before the East Division Final.

“Pretty much the (same as) when (Matt) Nichols went down in 2012 when his leg was all crooked, it was similar to that except my tibia didn’t break, just the fibula did,” Kackert said on Thursday from the Argos’ hotel in Edmonton.

“So that ankle joint took the rest of the brunt. There were a lot more complicati­ons with that. There are over 100 ligaments and bones and tendons in the ankle, so it’s a lot to repair.”

And so Kackert, who worked out for the New York Jets a couple months after being named the Grey Cup MOP, fell into the dregs of injury.

His ankle injury led to him announcing his retirement, and the Argos named him their strength and conditioni­ng coach for the 2014 season. His ankle screamed one thing at him (“QUIT!”) but his head, maybe his heart, continued to tell him something else.

“The idea of playing football was about impossible at that point, but I didn’t give up hope that I would get better,” he said.

And Kackert did get better. He got to the point that the Argos were ready to use him in last year’s East Final. He was one practice away from suiting up when his hamstring pulled.

“At that point in my life, it was just kind of the way things were going,” Kackert said.

Kackert found out in the off-season that there wouldn’t be room for him on this year’s Argos coaching staff. The 28-year-old still wasn’t ready to give up on football and took it as a sign that he should focus strictly on playing the game. After a so-so performanc­e at the Argos’ mini-camp in April, it came down to one workout.

“They brought me and (receiver) Dave Stala to just do a 45-minute workout/tryout in front of the whole staff, two days before the final cuts, I think,” Kackert said. “After that I felt like I finally looked like I could play football again.”

It took 22 months, but Kackert got his answer two weeks ago in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers. He had 12 carries for 73 yards in a 27-20 win.

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