June 21, 2018 was the day that Lewis Ward first suited up in a Canadian Football League game for the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
It was a day at TD Place like most others when Ottawa flocks to Lansdowne; 25 degrees at the time of kickoff, with some partial cloud cover the only obscuration on a beautiful night at the stadium.
The opponent was the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who had more than just a young upstart kicker to contend with. Ottawa dominated the contest, shredding the Riders in the air and on the ground to the tune of a 40-17 win. 10 of those points came from Ward, who was good on three of four field goal attempts.
It’s fitting, then, that when the REDBLACKS kick off their 2025 season in Regina, Ward will be appearing in his 100th career CFL game, against the Roughriders.
“It’s gone by quick,” said Ward after Tuesday’s practice. “The thought of it gives me goosebumps to think that I’ll be playing 100 pro football games going into Saskatchewan. It’ll be a lot fun.”
The years since that day in June of 2018 have been filled with highlights and memorable moments. There’s the Grey Cup appearance with the REDBLACKS in Ward’s first pro season, the same campaign in which he took home CFL Most Outstanding Rookie, Most Outstanding Special Teams Player, and Most Outstanding Canadian honours. Or one could point to the 56-yarder he kicked on October 19, 2019, which still holds up as the longest field goal in Ottawa professional football history. Or perhaps the three walk-off game-winners he kicked during the 2024 season.
Oh, and of course there’s the small matter of Ward setting a professional football record for consecutive made field goals, knocking 69 straight kicks through the uprights from 2018 through 2019. Not only does the record still stand today, but Ward is 22 up on the next closest kicker.
Not bad for a guy who not only went undrafted, but walked on to the University of Ottawa, and had to wait two years for his shot as a starting kicker.
“I talk to a lot of young kickers, and it’s not about doing it as fast as you can, it’s about maturing.” said Ward about his unconventional road to CFL stardom. “I’m fortunate that I got to spend those couple years [as a backup], and then when it was my time to start, I was successful from day one, and just kept building.”
In a way, however, the journey begins anew for Ward with Game 100. Not so much because it kicks off the road to 200, but because it’s his first game since becoming a father, after he and his fiancée, McKenna, welcomed their son, Thielen, in January.
While getting used to being a dad, and the increased level of responsibility at home is one thing, it’s another to be a “football dad”, and Ward is already enjoying that ride on its own. Hailing from Kingston, he was able to see his family, along with his parents with the REDBLACKS holding their training camp at Queen’s. Holding his son while walking through the team’s facility following FanFest on May 17 was an experience that he admits gave him butterflies.
It will be a similar feeling on Thursday night, knowing that it’s the first game for Ward’s new biggest fan.
“It was good to get that out of the way,” he said. “I have a good way of flipping the switch when it comes to gameday, nothing else is really on my mind, but as we warm up, there will be that consciousness of people watching at home, and one more set of eyes watching the TV. It’s a cool thing to think about.”
But the story of Ward’s career is not one that can be told without another one of the league’s all-time great specialists, in punter Richie Leone, who also acts as Ward’s trusted placeholder on kick attempts. One rarely seen without the other, the two even welcomed their first children within the same period of time, after Leone and his wife, Vanessa, announced the birth of their daughter, Ella, in April.
On and off the field, Ward makes no bones about what Leone’s friendship means to him.
“To be able to [hit 100 games] with a guy like Richie, I wouldn’t be here without him, so it’s meaningful,” Ward said. “When I came in, he took me under his wing, and the success we’ve had has just brought us closer. It’s a best friend relationship as well as a working relationship. I don’t think any other duo in the league has the connection we have.”
Off seasons usually spent pushing each other, and talking about how to each improve their craft may now make for more conversations about fatherhood, with Ward and Leone already doing things like asking each other about the amount of sleep they’re getting (or lack thereof).
Though everyone will take a moment to soak in the milestone on Thursday, Ward and the REDBLACKS are single-minded in their focus, which lies not on individual accolades, but on winning a Grey Cup together.
There are currently eight other teams with the same ambition, but Ward and the REDBLACKS believe that they stand as good of a chance as anyone.
“Whatever the media says, wherever the CFL has us ranked, whatever it is on paper right now, we’re looking to be a competitive team,” he said. “Putting it on the field in camp, you can see it coming together. Everything’s meshing together really well.”
Ward’s 100th game will be the first step for the REDBLACKS as they try to achieve their goal, when they visit the Riders Thursday night in a 9:00pm ET kickoff.
