Andre Durie (born July 27, 1981) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

slotback Slotback, sometimes referred to as an A-back or slot receiver, is a position in gridiron football. The "slot" is the area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side. A player who lines up ...

who played for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) from 2007 to 2016. He signed with the Argonauts on May 10, 2007, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after he went undrafted in the

2007 CFL Draft The 2007 CFL Draft took place on Wednesday, May 2, 2007. 47 players were chosen from among 911 eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. Of the 47 draft selections, 31 players ...

. He played

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

for the

York Lions The York Lions is the official name for the athletic varsity teams that represent York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports and, where applicable, ...

College career

Durie played

for

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He started playing for the

in 2003 after he set a junior Ontario Varsity Football League record with 22

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in a season. In 2004, Durie had a record-breaking season starting eight games at running back and set an

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...

record for single game rushing yards with 349 and single-season York records for rushing yards (1,367), scoring (96 points), and rushing touchdowns (15), and a career York record for rushing touchdowns (23). Durie also tied a CIS single-game record with six touchdowns to lead York to a 55–33 win over Waterloo. In the second game of the 2005 season he suffered nerve damage in his knee after a botched juke on third down and sat out the remainder of 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Professional career

After overcoming injuries that hurt his CIS career, Durie impressed the Argonauts management at the league evaluation camp and he appeared in 5 games for the Argos in 2007. After suffering another injury setback which has cost Durie more than half of the 2008 season he returned to action on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and as back-up

. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Durie dressed for all 18 games including weeks 1-5 as backup running back. In week 6 he made the switch to

and has remained in that role since, although still a backup. In this same season, he attained a 1000-yard kickoff return season, becoming the fourth Argonaut to do so, with 43 returns for 1033 yards. In the 2010 season, Durie won a job in the starting lineup as a RB/SB, but sees most of his touches as a receiver. In 2012, Durie won his first Grey Cup, defeating the Calgary Stampeders, scoring a touchdown in the 35–22 win. Durie had his best receiving season of his career during the 2013 CFL season, setting career highs in receptions with 92 and yards with 986. Following the 2013 season, Durie re-signed with the Argos through the 2016 CFL season, a deal that was reportedly worth around $140,000 annually.

Career statistics

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durie, Andre Living people 1981 births Black Canadian players of Canadian football Canadian football running backs Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from Mississauga Toronto Argonauts players York Lions football players