Kareame Cotton moving up U Sports record book with Windsor Lancers

Photo: Ian MacAlpine/Queen's Athletics

With only one regular-season game left on the schedule, Windsor Lancers quarterback Kareame Cotton has a chance to climb even higher up the U Sports record book.

The six-foot-two, 200-pound passer has completed 67.1 percent of his throws for 2,113 yards, 25 touchdowns, and three interceptions on the year, leading his team to a 5-2 record. He’s also rushed for 441 yards and three scores.

Cotton leads the country in touchdown passes — nobody else has more than 17 — and has already tied Steve Bilan, Noah Picton, and Jordan Yantz for seventh-most in a single season. He needs only one more to tie Cal Wither and Teale Orban for fifth place, and two more to tie Tre Ford and Chris Flynn for third place.

The single-season record, which includes only regular-season games, was set by McMaster Marauders quarterback Asher Hastings at 31 in 2015.

“(Matching the record) would be a big accomplishment, of course, but that’s not really what I’m chasing,” Cotton recently told 3DownNation. “I’m just trying to win football games at the end of the day. I’m trying to win the Yates (Cup), I’m trying to win my last game, so that’s what I look forward to.”

Windsor is coming off a bye week, and will visit the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday. A win would clinch a home playoff game in the upcoming OUA quarter-finals, and secure a fourth-straight top-four finish in the OUA standings.

Cotton’s path to the U Sports ranks was far from conventional.

After being a standout player in football and basketball at North Little Rock High School, Cotton enrolled at Northwestern State University in 2021. The school competes in the Southland Conference of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and is located in Natchitoches, La., only 120 kilometres southeast of the ill-fated CFL expansion Shreveport Pirates.

Cotton spent three seasons on campus as a backup at quarterback and receiver. He finally got the opportunity to play in 2024, and contributed at quarterback, running back, and receiver, throwing for 90 yards, rushing 19 times for 52 yards, and making nine receptions for 95 yards.

“It was just the type of offence (we ran). That last year, (head) coach (Blaine) McCorkle came in, he was more of a pro-style offence-type guy. It was finding what was best for me and just letting me be able to make plays, honestly,” said Cotton.

“It was just a thing that happened. It was like they wanted me to line up here, do these things, and whatever I needed to do for the team, I would always do it.”

After the season, Cotton had a decision to make regarding his future. He had one more year of NCAA eligibility remaining and entered the transfer portal, when he was contacted by University of Windsor assistant coach Pat Donovan.

Canadian football personnel people sometimes say it can be tough to recruit American-born players. This wasn’t the case with Cotton.

“I was already interested in coming to Canada to play football,” said Cotton. “I wanted to play in the CFL because I didn’t really think where I was at in my career that I was NFL-bound.”

“I thought that the CFL would probably be my best route to playing professionally. I feel like I’m a professional athlete, so I just felt like that was my best opportunity to keep playing.”

Cotton transferred to Windsor in 2025 and made the team as a receiver, recording 29 receptions for 247 yards and one touchdown. He also threw a 15-yard touchdown pass in a 36-25 loss to the Queen’s Gaels during the playoffs.

When he returned to the team in 2026, Cotton set his sights back on the quarterback position.

“We were trying to spice it up at quarterback. I told (offensive coordinator Joe Circelli), ‘If this is what we’re doing, I would like to put my full chips out there, let me try my best at quarterback, and see where it goes from there. If not, I’ll go play receiver,'” he said.

“I feel like I was a better quarterback, so I just wanted to try it out. He gave me an opportunity and I just ran with it.”

The Lancers ended up choosing Cotton as their starter, which turned out to be a smart decision.

“(I give the credit to) my teammates because I can’t do this all on my own,” he said. “I can’t block everybody, I can’t catch the ball. My teammates are just such good teammates. They just help me out to let me be this dual-threat quarterback I am, honestly. My O-line, my receivers, running backs, just the whole nine yards. I can’t do it alone.”

3DownNation published a preseason watchlist for the Hec Crighton Trophy, which is awarded to the top player in all of U Sports. Nearly a dozen coaches were consulted prior to its publication, including at least one from each conference. Cotton’s name was never mentioned, and thus he did not make the list.

The 24-year-old has since taken the OUA by storm, and is arguably the front-runner to win the award next month.

“It would mean a lot to me, for sure,” said Cotton. “Just knowing what I’ve been through and the journey that it took to get here, it would be a blessing to see it all like come come to fruition and have that trophy to celebrate with my teammates because like I said, I couldn’t do it without them.”

According to CFL rules, foreign-born players can qualify for National status provided they play at least three seasons at a U Sports institution and earn a degree. With one more year of U Sports eligibility remaining in 2027, Cotton plans to return to school before setting his sights to the 2028 CFL Draft.

“It all worked out to where I could come up here and get my Canadian tag, and still be able to go to the CFL, or possibly even get drafted,” he said. “It was just a big opportunity that I was willing to take a risk on.”

Evidently, it seems the risk has certainly paid off.