William Stanback, a powerful running back whose professional journey was defined by resilience on both sides of the border, has announced his retirement from football at age 31. The news, shared on his Instagram account on April 8, closes the book on a seven-year CFL career that saw him become one of the league's most formidable rushers.
"I leave the field knowing I gave it everything I had," Stanback wrote in his retirement post. "The dream doesn’t end here — it just evolves. Thank You Football."
Stanback's legacy is firmly rooted in the Canadian game, where he spent five standout seasons with the Montreal Alouettes, punctuated by a Grey Cup victory in 2022. His final CFL stats are a testament to his durability and dual-threat ability: over 5,500 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns on the ground, and nearly 1,750 receiving yards with seven more scores through the air.
His path to CFL stardom, however, was paved with profound personal hardship and near-misses in the NFL. After a college career that began at UCF and ended at Virginia Union, Stanback entered the pros as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2017. He was released just before the regular season.
His most challenging chapter came in 2020 during a tryout with the Las Vegas Raiders. That summer, Stanback endured the unimaginable loss of both his parents just nine days apart. "My parents passed that year, so I missed a lot of time during training camp," he later recounted. "When I did come back... they released me like two days after. I didn’t know what I wanted to do."
Football became his sanctuary. Returning to the CFL with Montreal, he channeled his grief into his performance, leading the league in rushing yards in 2021 and earning multiple All-Star honors. His career, which concluded with single seasons in BC and Ottawa, is a powerful reminder that an athlete's greatest victories often come after their most difficult losses. Stanback retires not just as a Grey Cup champion and two-time CFL All-Star, but as a player who left everything he had on the field.