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As they trot out on the field to kick off their 2026 CFL campaign, the Calgary Stampeders will be doing something they haven’t in 15 years: suit up without their longtime placekicker René Paredes.
Paredes, a franchise fixture since 2011, is injured and will break his streak of 247 consecutive games played. The 41-year-old Concordia University product has never missed a game in his career.
Despite that remarkable longevity, head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson allowed that the club has been prepared for this scenario for a while now. Paredes has explored non-football ventures for years, signing short-term extensions with the Stampeders in the off-season.
“I remember keeping guys on practice roster all the way back to Ronnie Pfeffer,” Dickenson said, referring to replacements he had in mind for Paredes long before this week.
“René was thinking about getting into the fire department and other stuff, this and that, so we’re prepared. I’m not going to say we want this, because René has just been so good. We expect him back, just not sure when though, unfortunately.”
Calgary Stampeders kicker René Paredes smiles at a teammate as he passes the ball during opening day of training camp in Calgary on May 12, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Stamps quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., one of the faces of the franchise, spoke highly of Paredes and his presence.
“He’s a future Hall-of-Famer,” he said. “Just praying he can get healthy as soon as possible and get him back.”
Tasked with replacing the man nicknamed El Matador is Jude McAtamney, a 26-year-old who hails from Derry, Northern Ireland, and spent part of the 2025 campaign with the NFL’s New York Giants.
“Kicking’s kicking,” he said. “Obviously there’s some subtle differences between American football and Canadian football, but it’s all much the same. It was a pretty easy adjustment.”
Jude McAtamney kicks for the New York Giants during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (Adam Hunger/AP)
The understudy deferred to the mentor.
“If anyone can play a professional sport that long, you know they’re doing something right,” McAtamney said.
The two have spoken, with Paredes sharing some simple advice.
“He just told me, ‘Do your own thing,'” McAtamney said. “Kicking and punting is personal, and nobody knows your body like yourself. He just says, ‘You know what you’re good at and just work on that and try and bring that out into the game.'”
Eyes on a home Grey Cup title
Calgary is hosting the Grey Cup in November, which will add even more intrigue to this season.
The Stamps are coming off a 2025 campaign where they rebuilt their roster around Adams Jr., and won 11 of 18 games, falling short in the West Semi-Final to the B.C. Lions.
The goal now is to build on that turnaround and win the franchise’s first title (and playoff game) since the 2018 Grey Cup.
On the field, it starts with Adams Jr., who has been instrumental in helping foster the team’s culture.
“We’re brothers,” he said. “We’re tight-knit. We play cards on the off days. We’re hanging out, doing things like that. It’s good.”
Calgary Stampeders’ Vernon Adams Jr. laughs with Hamilton Tiger-Cats wide receiver Kenny Lawler after the Stampeders defeated the Tiger-Cats in CFL football game action in Hamilton on Oct. 11, 2025. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press)
One of his favourite targets is Jalen Philpot, a former Calgary Dino who is now in his fifth season with the club. Philpot said that building the group’s culture this year was much easier because of the continuity on the roster and that they had some success last year as a group.
“The organization did a great job keeping the same culture-key guys in the locker-room from last year,” Philpot said. “It just felt like a rollover from last year. Vibes are high. Guys were excited to get here in camp, and they know what kind of team we have on paper … I think people are not going to be surprised when we come out guns-a-blazing.”
Inspiration from the past
This Stamps group can look to the 2001 Grey Cup champion team that will be honoured Friday evening at McMahon Stadium. That squad had a pedestrian 8-10 regular season record, but stunned the heavily-favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers to take home the title at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
Jeff Traversy was a mainstay on the Stamps’ defensive line during an era when they appeared in six Grey Cups between 1991 and 2001, winning three. He was soaking in the team’s practice with his family and fellow alumni last week.
“I feel like I never left,” he said, with a huge smile on his face. “My boys didn’t get to see me play, so I wanted to bring them and show them that this is what it was all about.”
Traversy didn’t hesitate when asked what made that group so special.
“The unity,” he replied. “We knew each other and we fought for each other and we loved each other.”
