C. J. Gable (born Carl Gable Jr. October 19, 1987) is a former

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 ...

. He was signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2011. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Southern California Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. He has also been a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

(

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Nebraska Danger The Nebraska Danger was a professional indoor football team based in Grand Island, Nebraska, and a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was founded in 2011 by Charlie Bosselman as an expansion member of the IFL. The Danger played ...

(

IFL IFL may refer to: ;American football *Intense Football League, (2004–2008) in the United States, merged into the Indoor Football League *Indoor Football League, (2008–present) in the United States *Intercontinental Football League, a European l ...

), and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

(

CFL 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 ...

Early years

Gable attended

Sylmar High School Sylmar Charter High School is a charter school in the northeast San Fernando Valley in the Sylmar district of Los Angeles, California. Established in 1961, it is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, District 2, and serves more than ...

Sylmar, California Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and is the northernmost neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century and th ...

. By his sophomore season, he had garnered attention for his play at free safety.Eric Sondheimer
Younger Players Win Over Veterans
''Los Angeles Times'', December 5, 2003, Accessed August 18, 2008. He was a 2005 Parade High School All-American before joining the Trojans for the 2006 season. At Sylmar, as a sophomore he had a total of 80 carries, 509 yards, 7 touchdowns as a part-time running back. As a junior, now the full-time running back he had a total of 180 carries, 2,023 yards, 23 touchdowns. As a senior, he had a breakout season having a total of 202 carries, 2,086 yards, 27 touchdowns and came up just short of the school rushing record of 2,095 set by Ryen Carew in 2002. He is the only running back to rush for over 2,000 yards back to back in Sylmar High School history.

College career

Gable became the first freshman to ever start an opener at running back for USC when he started at Arkansas in 2006. Gable suffered a season-ending injury in the third game of the 2007 season. He ran a 4.68-second 40-yard dash in the summer of 2008. Gable competed for playing time at running back and kick returner as a sophomore in 2008. Gable originally wore #25 when he began his USC career, but had it changed to #2, his number in high school; when he arrived at USC, #2 was already worn by wide receiver

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics *Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager *Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, a ...

. However, Smith left for the NFL after the 2006 season and Gable was able to reclaim his old number.Scott Wolf
Number Change
, Inside USC, December 24, 2006. He decided not to declare for the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

and returned to USC as a fourth-year junior. Gable ran for 617 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2008, while also returning 7 kicks for 196 yards and a 93-yard touchdown return against Stanford. In 2009, he ran for 102 yards on 24 carries. Gable also returned 19 kicks for 348 yards in '09.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Gable went undrafted in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. On July 26, 2011, Gable signed as an undrafted free agent with the

. He was waived on August 5, 2011.

Denver Broncos

On August 6, 2011, Gable signed with the Denver Broncos, but was waived on August 29.

Nebraska Danger

Gable was signed by the

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

on October 24, 2012, but was released on February 28, 2013.

CFL career

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Gable was signed by the

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 ...

on April 2, 2013. CJ Gable had a strong first season in the CFL. He was a threat both rushing the ball and receiving the ball out of the backfield. Gable totaled 782 rushing yards on 130 carries, with 7 touchdowns as well as 598 receiving yards on 54 catches with 5 touchdowns. He was the 2013 winner of the Frank M. Gibson Trophy as runner up for the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and th ...

. Gable's second season in the CFL was marred by injury. He only played in the first 6 games of the season before injuring his foot and shoulder. He wound up with just 138 rushing yards on 30 carries (4.6 average) for 2 touchdowns, with 18 catches for 224 yards and 2 more touchdowns. In late February 2015, Gable and the Tiger-Cats agreed to a contract extension which will keep Gable in Hamilton through the

2017 CFL season The 2017 CFL season was the 64th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 60th season of the Canadian Football League. The regular season began on June 22 and concluded on November 4. The playoffs commenced on November 12 an ...

. His third season with the Ti-Cats was similar to his second season in that he missed significant playing time due to injury. The 2016 season was a return to form for Gable, as he played in 15 games for the Ti-Cats, rushing the ball 126 times for 693 yards (5.5 average) and 3 touchdowns. He also caught 39 passes for 404 yards and one receiving touchdown. Gable earned divisional All-Star honours for the second time in his career as a result of his strong play in 2016. Gable returned in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

as the team's primary running back, playing in nine of the club's first 13 games. Gable carried the ball 74 times for 466 yards with 5 touchdowns for the Ti-Cats in 2017.

Edmonton Eskimos

On October 2, 2017 the

acquired C.J. Gable via trade, in exchange for two unnamed players from their negotiation list. In four regular season games with the Eskimos Gable carried the ball 72 times for 367 yards (5.1 avg) with two touchdowns (he also caught nine passes for 99 yards and one touchdown). In two playoff games Gable had 28 rushing attempts for 161 yards with three touchdowns. Following the season he was re-signed by the Eskimos to a two-year deal. Although Edmonton missed the playoffs with a 9-9 record, Gable's 2018 proved to be a career year, rushing for his first 1,000 season. In 16 games, Gable had 196 rushes for 1,063 yards with 7 touchdowns, in addition to 34 catches for 212 yards and another score. Gable had another strong season in 2019, carrying the ball a career high 205 times eclipsing 1000 rushing yards for the second consecutive season. Following the season Gable was not re-signed by the Eskimos and became a free agent on February 11, 2020. Gable signed a one-day contract with the Tiger-Cats to retire as a member of the team on April 1, 2021.

Career statistics

References

External links

USC Trojans bioHamilton Tiger-Cats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gable, Cj 1987 births Living people American football running backs Denver Broncos players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Nebraska Danger players New Orleans Saints players Players of American football from Los Angeles USC Trojans football players People from Sylmar, Los Angeles Edmonton Elks players Canadian football running backs Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners