Charleston Hughes (born December 14, 1983) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was signed by the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

as a

street free agent A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like streetlights or benches. A stree ...

in 2008 and won two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championships over his ten-year tenure with the club (in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

). He is a six-time CFL All-Star and eight-time division All-Star. He was also named the West Division's Most Outstanding Defensive Player in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for Northwood. Hughes has also been a member of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

of the NFL, and the

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 (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

, and

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

of the CFL.

Professional career

Calgary Stampeders (first stint)

Hughes joined the Stamps for the

2008 CFL season The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 51st season for the Canadian Football League. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey C ...

. He played in 15 of the 18 regular season games and recorded a career high 66 tackles. The Stampeders won the

96th Grey Cup The 96th Grey Cup was held in Montreal, Quebec at Olympic Stadium on November 23, 2008. The East Division champion Montreal Alouettes hosted the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders won the game 22–14, with quarterback Hen ...

against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

on November 23, 2008.

Philadelphia Eagles

Following a successful rookie year in the CFL, Hughes joined the Philadelphia Eagles of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

on January 27, 2009. He was released on September 1, 2009 before playing any regular season games.

Calgary Stampeders (second stint)

He returned to the CFL midway through the

2009 CFL season The 2009 CFL season was the 56th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 52nd season of the Canadian Football League. The Montreal Alouettes won the 97th Grey Cup on November 29, 2009 with a last second 28–27 win over ...

. Hughes finished the 2012 season ranked second in sacks with 11, trailing only Keron Williams who had 12. Hughes led the CFL in sacks for the 2013 season with 18, one shy of the franchise record of 19 set by Harold Hallman in 1986. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

,for the second time in his career, Hughes finished the season with the most sacks, this time with 16. For his efforts, he was named a CFL All-Star for the third time in his career and was his team's nominee for Most Outstanding Defensive Player award for a third time. Following the 2016 season Hughes and the Stamps agreed to a contract extension, keeping him with the club through the 2018 season. Hughes had another productive season in 2017 accumulating 11 quarterback sacks, earning his fourth CFL All-Star award in the process. At the end of the 2017 season Hughes' 99 sacks tied him with Will Johnson for the most sacks in Stampeders franchise history.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (first stint)

On February 2, 2018, Hughes was traded to the

in exchange for draft pick positioning. However, he was traded later that day to the

for quarterback

Vernon Adams Jr. Vernon Anthony Adams Jr. (born January 3, 1993) is an American professional football quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles and Oregon Ducks. He ...

Hughes was charged with impaired driving on October 11, 2018, with a court date set for October 31, 2018. Following the incident the Riders suspended Hughes for the team's critical Week 19 match against the Calgary Stampeders and fined him with the maximum disciplinary fine allowed under the CBA. He finished the season having played in 17 games and contributing 35 tackles and 15 sacks. Hughes had an outstanding season with the Riders in 2019, and was named a CFL Top Performer for the months of July and September. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the ...

and, as a pending 2021 free agent, he was released by the Roughriders on February 3, 2021.

Toronto Argonauts

On February 4, 2021, Hughes signed with the

to a two-year contract. He played in nine games where he had 18 defensive tackles and two sacks and was released on December 27, 2021.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (second stint)

On May 10, 2022, it was announced that Hughes had re-signed with the Roughriders. On February 14, 2023, Hughes became a free agent.

Statistics

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bioCalgary Stampeders bio

Official website of Charleston Hughes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Charleston 1983 births Living people American football linebackers Calgary Stampeders players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Argonauts players Canadian football defensive linemen Northwood Timberwolves football players Players of American football from Michigan Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw High School alumni Players of Canadian football from Michigan Philadelphia Eagles players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players