All-star nod special for Stamps’ Jorden
Kamar Jorden wasn’t even sure he was eligible to be an all-star.
On Wednesday morning, voters gave him an answer when they recognized him with an all-star nod in the talent-rich CFL West Division.
The circumstances that led to the recognition made it all the more meaningful.
His numbers in the first half were undeniably good enough to earn him a nod, but the knee injury he suffered during the Labour Day Classic ended his year right as people around the league were beginning to refer to him as the best receiver in the CFL.
There were two months between his devastating season-ending injury and the all-star announcement, and in a league where recency bias can play a factor in voting, there was a real threat Jorden would be left off voters’ ballots.
“I’m not even going to lie and say I wasn’t waiting for this day to see if I was going to make the list or not,” Jorden said Wednesday, 90 minutes after his all-star nod was made official. “After the season that I had and the way it ended, this was something to look forward to, to see if it was even possible.”
The numbers Jorden put up between mid-June and early-September made him impossible for voters — a group made up of CFL head coaches and members of the Football Reporters of Canada, including this author — to ignore.
In 10 games, Jorden caught 55 passes for 944 yards and six touchdowns. That’s the 11th most receiving yards and ninth-most TDs on the season, despite playing in a little more than half the games most league-leaders participated in.
There were some genuinely spectacular moments, too.
In Week 8 against the B.C. Lions, Jorden had a ridiculous 185 receiving yards.
Two games later, he set a Stampeders record with 249 receiving yards on 10 catches against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Jorden came to Calgary and signed a practice roster contract with the Stampeders in 2013, so to finally be getting talked about as one of the greats of the Canadian game felt like the reward for years of hard work.
Then it was all ripped away when a brutal knee injury sent him to the surgery room.
Being named to the all-star team doesn’t make up for the time he’s lost, but it’s certainly proof Jorden made his mark.
“It definitely feels good,” Jorden said. “It honestly makes me think about the beginning when I first got up here and how much work and how much I’ve had to go through to get to this point. It’s crazy when I look at all those other receivers, and they’re guys I’ve been watching since I was here.”
Jorden was one of six Stampeders named to the West Division all-star squad, and he’s joined by quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, offensive lineman Derek Dennis, defensive tackle Micah Johnson, linebacker Alex Singleton and cornerback Ciante Evans.
He’s the only Stamps player on that list who has been named an all-star for the first time, and he’s hopeful it won’t be the last.
After his surgery, doctors told Jorden his recovery would likely take a year, and he’s probably got a better idea than most about what the process will entail.
Jorden chose to stay around Calgary after the injury. He’s done his best to get around the locker-room to support his teammates as they prepare for a run at the Grey Cup.
In turn, he’s had plenty of support from guys on the team who have fought back from knee injuries themselves.
“There were a lot of guys who I didn’t even know had knee injuries, and they kind of told me their stories and what they ’ve been through and some of the things that I had to look ahead to — it helped out a lot,” Jorden said.