For the past six seasons, Ty Cranston has been a fixture on special teams for both the Ottawa REDBLACKS and Montreal Alouettes, but on Friday, he chose to hang up the spikes, announcing that he’s played his last game of professional football.
Three seasons in Montreal preceded three in the nation’s capital, where he tallied 59 special teams tackles, 49 more on defence, and a pair of interceptions in 68 games.
“It was everything I ever could have wanted as a kid growing up watching the CFL,” Cranston said of his stint in pro ball. “Professional sport is something I wanted to do, and I kind of fell into football and ran with it. It was pretty special as a Canadian kid getting to play in the CFL for as long as I did.”
An alumnus of the University of Ottawa, where he played for the Gee-Gees for five seasons, Cranston was a seventh-round draft choice by the Alouettes in 2017, before returning to Ottawa in 2022, inking a new contract with the REDBLACKS in free agency.
With the REDBLACKS, he played a key role on the special teams unit, routinely earning high praise from Head Coach and special teams guru Bob Dyce.
“Ottawa has been my home on and off for the past 13 years,” Cranston said. “It has become my home, and I got a chance to play in front of close friends and my new family with my wife. Being embedded in the city full time as a player in the community and on the field was pretty special.”
For as circumstantially perfect as it was to finish his career in Ottawa, Cranston won’t forget his time in Montreal, which gave him his start.
“That was the team that took a chance on me, and I’m forever grateful for that,” he explained. “It was a great opportunity to learn under some veterans and expand my thoughts about what I could be as a player on the field and off.”
Building a family, Cranston now has roots in the city, and is planning to stay in Ottawa for the long run. He’s sure to be in the stands watching games this season, a new – and likely odd – experience.
“It’ll take some time to adjust,” he said. “I’m not one of those people who’re gonna be ready to jump back in. I think I’ve made my decision. I’m ready to be done, and I’ll enjoy watching it from the stands, but it’ll definitely take some time to adjust to being on the other side of the sideline.”
The highly intelligent Cranston studied English literature while at the University of Ottawa, and will now put that into practice, doing communications work for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
Never expecting to be done “figuring things out,” Cranston says there is an avenue in the future where he might consider coaching, but for now, there’s a good chance to put some space between himself and the sport he loves.
“Eventually, I think I’d imagine that in some capacity, some way,” he said. “I put in a lot of time, and I think I’m pretty good at this whole football thing, so eventually I’d like to use that for some good. Football will always be a part of my life.”
To everyone who has either played alongside him, coached him, or cheered him on, it’s all love as he signs off for the last time.
“Everybody, big or small, played a part in who I am today, as a player and as a human being,” Cranston said, showing all of his vast appreciation. “The thing I’ll miss most is just all the relationships and the interactions you have with the people around the game on that day-to-day basis.”
