Huskies’ Machart retires just days before CFL draft

Adam Machart has ended his CFL career before it even started.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies tailback announced in a social media post late Thursday that he was retiring from football.

The 24-year-old Saskatoon product was considered a shoo-in to be selected in Tuesday’s CFL draft.

“The time has come for me to hang the cleats up,” Machart wrote in the post on Instagram. “This is a crazy moment for me as anyone who knows me or anything about me knows I live and breathe this sport. I’ll forever be grateful for all the teammates, coaches and support staff I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to spend time with.

“I will be pulling from the CFL draft as it would not be right for me to let a team waste a pick when I have no intention of playing.”

He also thanked everyone who cheered for and supported him during his career, but didn’t elaborate on the reason for his decision.

The 5-foot-7, 189-pound Machart was named a U Sports first-team all-Canadian in both the 2019 and ’21 seasons. In 2019, he set a U of S single-season record with 1,334 rushing yards in eight regular-season games.

Last season, he carried the ball 128 times for 925 yards and seven TDs and added 33 catches for 400 yards and three scores over nine regular-season and playoff games, including the Vanier Cup.

A former star with the PFC’s Saskatoon Hilltops, Machart had 357 carries for 2,622 yards, 78 catches for 814 yards and 25 touchdowns during his time with the Huskies.

The CFL’s scouting bureau had Machart as its 18th-ranked prospect in its September pre-draft rankings and at No. 13 in its January rankings, but he didn’t appear in the top 20 in the bureau’s final rankings.