D’Aguilar’s retirement plans will have to wait
Stamps give veteran defensive lineman another chance after rash of injuries
For all intents and purposes, CALG ARY Ben D’Aguilar had come to terms with being done playing football.
He even uses the word “retired” when he’s asked about where his football career was at during the three weeks since he was released by the Calgary Stampeders at the end of training camp.
But as it turns out, football wasn’t done with D’Aguilar, and there he was Monday, back practising with his Stampeders teammates after getting a call to come help the team get through the injury crisis that’s devastated the defensive line.
“I sort of got up to running my own gym and doing my own movement training and staying in shape, just in case,” D’Aguilar said Monday, describing the program he created and was about to start working on with horse riders through Touched by Grace farms.
“The week before I was going to do that full time, (the Stamps) gave me the call. It’s unique.”
The situation is unique for the Stampeders, too, as it’s hard to remember a time when a CFL team has had one unit suffer so many injuries in such a short time.
First there was Cordarro Law, then Ja’Gared Davis, then Charleston Hughes — who should be back this week — and on Monday, TSN reported that Kashawn Fraser was done for the season.
Fortunately, D’Aguilar’s new gym venture hadn’t quite gotten off the ground.
“It looked like the gym stuff was going to look pretty good and pay the bills,” the 27-year-old said. “But the timing, the process took longer than expected. The Stamps came back around right before it was all going to take off. Literally, the 13th of July, it was all going to happen.”
D’Aguilar was signed Monday along with fellow defensive lineman Reuben Frank, who played seven games with the Edmonton Eskimos last season.
D’Aguilar, meanwhile, knows the Stamps system well, having played 49 regular-season games with the Red and White since being selected in the second round of the 2013 CFL Draft.
“Ben is one of my guys,” said Stamps defensive line coach Corey Mace. “He’s got an opportunity and a second chance here to stick around and make a name for himself and I know he’s attacking it like that.”
If D’Aguilar can step in and contribute right away, it would provide a massive boost for the Stampeders. And from the sounds of it, the Stamps coaches never really believed he wasn’t good enough to play for the team.
“We’ve got a heavy, heavy injury list right now, and when we cut Ben, it was more that we thought we had great depth, ...” said Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson. “We’re happy to get him back.”
The sentiment appears to be mutual.
While D’Aguilar sounds legitimately excited to get his gym/ movement training program off the ground, he admitted Monday that staying in shape over the past couple weeks wasn’t quite the same as being out on the football field.
“Working out, you can’t scratch the itch the same way as (you can) running into giant dudes,” D’Aguilar said.
Ben is one of my guys. He’s got an opportunity and a second chance here to stick around and make a name for himself.