Jorden told to ‘get over’ his gaffe at Grey Cup
You can count John Hufnagel among the people who were impressedwith the way K am ar J or den handled himself after the Grey Cup disaster.
Jorden’s late fumble in the closing minutes of November’s championship game against the Toronto Argonauts could very well have cost the Calgary Stampeders a chance to win the Grey Cup, and it’s going to live long in the memories of Canadian football fans.
It was an enormously costly mistake. But Jorden owned it.
In what must have been an incredibly painful moment for the receiver — both personally and professionally — Jorden stood in front of the media and took responsibility for his mistake, even acknowledging that teammate Marquay McDaniel was right for blaming his carelessness for the loss.
“Kamar probably couldn’t have handled it any better,” Hufnagel said Wednesday in Banff, where CFL general managers were having their annual meetings. “It was disappointing, but he has to get over it. His teammates have gotten over it, and now he has to get over it.”
The Stampeders re-signed Jorden in December, and with DaVaris Daniels testing out his NFL options, Jorden is sure to have a major role to play in the team’s success next season.
When he was healthy in 2017, Jorden was one of the league’s most dynamic receivers, and the Stampeders will be counting on him doing even more in 2018.
For Hufnagel, that’s what counts, as he said he didn’t even speak with Jorden about the Grey Cup fumble when he signed the new contract.
“I really expect him to come out next year and have an even better year for us,” Hufnagel said.
Considering how strong the Stampeders’ defensive secondary was in 2017, the fact that six regular starters were eligible for free agency this off-season has been something of concern for fans.
Hufnagel, though, believes he’ll be able to get most of them signed to new contracts in the next couple of weeks.
Already, the Stamps have resigned veteran Brandon Smith, while Shaquille Richardson signed with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders earlier this week.
That leaves Jamar Wall, Joe Burnett, Josh Bell, Ciante Evans and Tommie Campbell all still unsigned with about a month to go before the free agency window opens.
“We’re talking, I think we’re very close,” Hufnagel said. “I’m sure that we’ll have a majority of them signed before the free agency date comes.”