Saskatchewan Roughriders' running back Ka'Deem Carey is looking forward to playing against his former team on Friday. The Toronto Argonauts released him among the team's final roster cuts entering the 2025 CFL season.
"It's a lot of motivation to go there," Carey said. "I'm with the right team. Coach is going to put me in the right position to make plays and everybody else is going to have fun. I think they already see that they're in the wrong, but I'm with the right squad right now. I'm excited to show what we can do out there. We haven't put a full game together, so I think this will be a great team to go out there and put 60 minutes together.”
The 32-year-old Carey officially signed with the Riders on Monday, June 9. His first game with the Green and White was against the Tiger-Cats in Week 2. He rushed for 26 yards on four carries while adding one reception for nine yards in a 28-23 win at Hamilton Stadium.
"The overall talent that this team has, the leadership, I want to say we're probably one of the oldest groups. When you step in here, everybody knows their place," Carey said. "Everybody comes to work hard and I'm really in the right spot. It's about putting all these pieces together at the right time, striking and competing for a championship."
Carey knew Saskatchewan's offensive coordinator Marc Mueller from time spent together with the Calgary Stampeders from 2018-2023. That helped him pick up his playbook quickly with the Riders but it still required a lot of work.
"A lot of the stuff was very similar, I adjusted quickly," Carey said. "It was really getting out there with a new team that was different, new people and celebrating with the squad."
Carey's running mate in the Green and White's backfield is A.J. Ouellette. Against the Ticats, Ouellette rushed 13 times for 96 yards and one touchdown. That TD was the longest run in Ouellette's career coming from 47 yards out.
"It's a special backfield that we got. When he went for that 50-yarder, all that did was excite me to go out there and make a special play myself," Carey recalled. "When you have two all-star backs, anything can happen. Then you got those receivers catching those balls down the field and it can get dangerous."
The match-up with his former team makes Carey confident the Roughriders have an advantage.
"I know that squad inside out," Carey said. "I know what they bring from the heart, from their brains, from what they're going to do out there. It's going to be a good little showdown. They don't really know me out there.Anything I can do, and they can't stop."
Carey and the Riders travel to Toronto on Friday to take on the Argos. Catch the pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 2:30 p.m. while Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the call at 5:30 p.m. You can hear everything on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.