Jorden never stopped believing in himself
Wide receiver never wavered in believing in his talent, writes Danny Austin.
It can sometimes be easy to forget how long Kamar Jorden has been around the Calgary Stampeders.
Long before fans and pundits were regularly dropping his name in conversations about the CFL’s best receivers, Jorden was showing up to practice every day and putting in work.
From late-2013 until the end of the ’15 season, Jorden mostly bounced between the practice roster and the one-game injured list, putting in work and patiently waiting for a chance to prove he belonged.
It wasn’t easy, but today, Jorden is happy to talk about those days with any player struggling to break into the starting lineup.
“I talk to those guys, like (receiver Reggie Begelton) is a baller — he could be a starter on any team in the CFL — and I’m sure it’s tough on him (not being on the active roster every game),” Jorden said. “But I tell them, ‘You’ve got to look where I came from.’
“I’ve been on the practice squad, I’ve been hurt, I’ve been a healthy scratch ... Literally, every position you can be in where you’re not playing, I’ve been there.”
After signing with the Stamps near the tail end of the 2013 regular season, he appeared in only three games between then and the end of ’15 before finally breaking out the next year, when he played nine games and had 42 catches for 580 yards.
Being on the practice roster can be tough, both psychologically and financially, but Jorden was driven by a steadfast belief that he could be an elite CFL receiver as long as he kept grinding and took advantage of whatever chances came his way.
If he’s got any advice for the young guys who are currently fighting for their shot, that’s it.
“You’ve just got to focus on yourself and getting better and growing,” Jorden said. “Once you do that, eventually it all starts to grow and come together. I feel like all of that, from the very beginning, led to this point where I’m at right now. I’ve got a lot more to go, but sometimes you’ve just got to believe in your talent and then just grow and get better.”
Jorden’s growth has, to put it plainly, been pretty remarkable.
He’s currently second in the CFL in receiving yards with 895, and broke a 50-year-old singlegame Stampeders record when he came down with 249 receiving yards last weekend against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
That performance earned him recognition as one of the CFL’s performers of the week — teammates Bo Levi Mitchell and Ja’Gared Davis also got a nod — and on Wednesday, he was named the league’s top player for the month of August.
In the Stamps’ three August games, Jorden recorded 500 receiving yards and a touchdown, while averaging 25 yards per reception and 166.7 yards per game.
Those are the sorts of numbers Jorden was dreaming about back when he was grinding away in the early years of his Stamps career, and they vindicate not only Jorden’s own personal sense of self-belief but also the investment his team made in helping him develop.
“I think he trusted us — I think he knew we had a plan for him,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “We did try to keep using him and be honest with him. It shows he’s committed, his agent and himself obviously knew we were shooting him straight, and that he would get an opportunity.
“He’s ran with it — he hasn’t like been overnight, obviously, but you’re seeing where he’s grown into (and) where he’s accustomed to … playing, and he’s making some great plays for us.”