Calgary Stampeders rookie camp: Day 1 brings excitement, hope and top draft pick Damien Alford
First session on new turf brings on plenty of positives for Calgary's CFL franchise
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Football started in earnest for the Calgary Stampeders on Wednesday at McMahon Stadium.
Its return came with the usual array of news, hope and excitement expected ahead of the start of the Canadian Football League season.
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Calgary Stampeders rookie camp: Day 1 brings excitement, hope and top draft pick Damien Alford Back to video
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Sure … it’s only rookie camp for now, but the hoots and hollers from the field — welcome new turf, that is — under a sunny sky painted a picture of positivity for a franchise trying to improve on the free-fall of the last couple of campaigns.
“Everybody’s in a great mood — it’s Day 1, and it’s great weather,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “There’s positives with our organization. We’ve got a brand new weight room, we’ve got a new players’ lounge, the turf is nice, a lot of fresh faces, a lot of new coaches …
“When it’s fresh and new, it’s easy to have that energy and positivity,” continued the 52-year-old coach, now in his ninth season. “But we’ll see how we can build. We’ve got to certainly take this and continue to improve each and every day. And we need that arrow pointing up.”
A total of 61 players took the field, including five quarterbacks — projected starter Vernon Adams Jr., NFL veteran P.J. Walker, returnee Logan Bonner, USFL talent Josh Love and local product Cohen Wright.
But the focus leading into Sunday’s opening of main camp is on the new blood — those prospects the Stamps hope can help turn that arrow around in the near future …
The hopefuls
Damien Alford tops the list of 59 pro football freshmen on the rookie camp roster.
The promising wide receiver was the Stampeders’ prized pick — first overall — in the 2025 CFL Draft last week.
“He looks the part … a big man that can run,” said Dickenson, of the 6-foot-6, 224-lb. hands-man from Montreal. “Damien’s going to be a good player for us. But we’ve got to make him earn it and see what he can do.
“But we also have to understand he’s a young player who hasn’t played Canadian rules for a long time. Let’s temper expectations a little bit.”
The expectations are high given the 24-year-old was the top selection in the draft of Canadian players, born from his size, speed and ability to catch a ball.
“It was different coming back to the Canadian field — just the Canadian offence as a whole,” said Alford, of his first day of Stamps camp. “But I’m going to get it right by the time the season comes.”
Indeed, Alford has been down south for years, playing four NCAA seasons with the Syracuse Orange and last year with the Utah Utes.
In 42 games, including 28 starts with the Orange, Alford made 67 catches for 1,291 yards — an average of 19.3 yards per catch — and seven touchdowns. His most productive season came in 2023 when he had 33 receptions for 610 yards and three scores.
Alford then transferred through the NCAA portal to Utah, but his late arrival there meant just four games played with the Utes in 2024, and he did not record any stats.
“Obviously, there were some questions around his 2024 season at Utah,” said Stampeders director of Canadian scouting Dwayne Cameron. “We were comfortable with the answers that we got both from Syracuse and Utah, and so it was an easy pick for us.”
Alford signed Tuesday with the Stampeders after recently attending rookie mini-camp with the Kansas City Chiefs and turning down at least one other invite to another NFL mini-camp.
“The Stampeders drafted me first — they wanted me here and needed me here,” Alford said. “So it was a no-brainer for me to come to Calgary now.
“I did the camp at K.C., and obviously it didn’t go how anybody planned it. But I’m here now, and my 100 per cent is right here for this team. And the future is the future.
“And I definitely got in shape at the K.C. camp.”
The news
Linebacker Fraser Sopik, 28, has announced his retirement from football after five CFL seasons.
A fourth-round draft pick by the Stampeders in 2019, Sopik re-signed with the club in February after spending two seasons in the CFL’s East Division — one with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and one with the Toronto Argonauts — but is retiring due to an injury suffered during the off-season.
“I could not thank the Calgary Stampeders more for drafting me in 2019 and giving me the opportunity to come back now,” said Sopik, who was inked by the Red and White to be a starting linebacker for 2025. “Although it did not work out how I wanted it to, Calgary is a first-class organization and I am honoured to have been a Stamp.”
In 71 combined regular-season contests with the Stampeders, the Tiger-Cats and the Argonauts, Sopik had 90 defensive tackles, including four tackles for losses, 45 special-teams tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and four knockdowns. He was crowned a Grey Cup champion with the Argos last November.
“Fraser is the type of guy that every team wants on its roster,” said Dickenson. “He got hurt and got a little surgery, and he’s not going to be able to play at least for a while.
“He’s not interested in just coming to make a paycheque, which gets a lot of respect from me. I respect him as a man — even more after this happened.”
Other news and notes …
• Wright is in training camp as part of the CFL’s QB internship program. He starred with Calgary’s Ernest Manning High School before his U SPORTS freshman season last year with the Saskatchewan Huskies.
• Alford’s inking completed the signing of all of the Stamps’ 2025 draft class. The others putting their name on contracts were OL Christopher Fortin (first round, eighth overall), QB/RB Quincy Vaughn (second round), DB Anton Haie (third round), LB Nicky-Alexander Farinaccio (fourth round), WR Vyshonne Janusas (fifth round), RB Ludovick Choquette (sixth round), OL Matthew Stokman (seventh round), DL Max von Muehldorfer (seventh round) and DB Ashton Miller-Melancon.
• The last week has brought a handful of signings beyond their draft picks by the Stamps — RB Eno Benjamin, WR Joseph Ngata, OL T.J. Session, OL Justin Shaffer, LB Alex Howard, DB Deshawn Pace and DB Jaydon Grant.
• Global draftee punter Fraser Masin is currently attending mini-camp with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
Short yardage
Just two freshman didn’t make it to Calgary for Day 1 — Pace, because he just signed with the club Tuesday, and Howard, due travel issues … Rookie camp at McMahon Stadium continues Thursday (9:50 a.m.) and concludes Friday (10:05 a.m.) … Main camp for the Stamps then opens Sunday, also at McMahon.
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