Stampeders’ oldest player Smith sees no reason to slow down
It’s not like Brandon Smith woke up one day and suddenly realized he was the oldest player on the Calgary Stampeders roster. Well, maybe a little bit.
The 33-year-old was the fiftholdest player at last year’s Stamps training camp and one of a handful of players, along with Charleston Hughes and Rob Cote, who had won the Grey Cup with the organization back in 2008.
When he showed up at training camp this year, everyone in the locker-room was younger.
“It happened within three months,” Smith said. “A couple guys decided to retire and then we move some guys around. It hit me when I got here and I was like ‘Yikes, it’s here, it’s really happening.’
“I’ve been here since 2008 and we had a group of guys, but over time, one-by-one, they disappeared and I’m the last of the Mohicans here.”
Smith might be the oldest on the team, but that doesn’t mean his role with the Stamps is in any way diminished.
After starting the season on the six-game injured list in 2017, Smith played in 11 regular season and both the West Final and Grey Cup, where he registered four tackles, including one for a loss.
The year before, he started 18 games, so his body is holding up remarkably well.
The Stamps aren’t just keeping him around to provide veteran leadership, they definitely need him to play — probably at halfback, although positions in the defensive backfield aren’t set in stone at this point in training camp.
“Smitty is Mr. Reliable in my opinion,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “He’s also Mr. Consistent, he’s underappreciated. He’s one of the more physical DBs in our league.
“To me, he’s still running well and covering well. It’s funny, he’s the last of the guys I actually played with (Dickenson was one of the Stamps’ QBs in 2008) since we lost Charleston. He works hard, he doesn’t take practices off. It doesn’t matter how many games he’s played, he’s still trying to improve.”
So far during camp, the Stamps’ veteran DBs have been shuffled around between the various positions in the defensive backfield. If that’s what’s asked of Smith, he’s happy to accommodate the coaches, but so far he’s mostly been taking reps at the halfback spot.
Around him, younger guys are learning the game and fighting for jobs. Some fans are worried that the exodus of older, veteran players is going to bring on a regression for a Stamps team that has dominated the West Division over the past two seasons.
Smith — who would know better than most — doesn’t seem worried about that.
“It’s a new wave of guys here, we’ve got a new group of young leaders on the team,” Smith said. “We’d had the same group for a long time and you looked to them for leadership. Now, you have some younger guys going and picking up the torch and running with it. “It’s good to see that.”
For fans who are worried about the team getting younger, it’ll be good to see Smith out on the field doing what he’s done for the last 11 seasons — and there’s no reason to believe he’s slowing down, either.
“I never thought I’d be the oldest guy on the team,” Smith said. “The average football career is four or five years max, maybe, so I outlived that and it’s a blessing to be able to do that and that the body’s been able to co-operate and that the team’s given me the opportunity.”