BLAST FROM THE PAST
Legend's son gives new-look Elks sense of history
For as new as everything looks for the freshly minted Edmonton Elks in training camp at Commonwealth Stadium, there is piece on the roster that screams blast from the past.
And if Caleb Ham gets the feeling his father is watching over his shoulder, there's a good reason.
The son of former Edmonton great and double Hall-of-fame quarterback Tracy Ham walked into the home locker-room at Commonwealth Stadium to find an image of his father above his stall.
The elder Ham, who began his illustrious Canadian Football League career in Edmonton from 1987-92, before going on to the Toronto Argonauts, Baltimore Stallions and Montreal Alouettes, is part of a group of former Edmonton legends whose visages appear on smoked glass panels ringing the locker-room.
And Tracy's face is basically looking right down at Caleb's space.
“It's very humbling,” said
Caleb, who tweeted out a gif of the scene from inside the locker-room upon arriving a week ahead of training camp.
“It was just a blessing to see my dad basically right beside my locker. Wow, it's definitely something I look at and look forward to every day . ...
“Going into that locker-room that day was eye-opening because you can see the history. It's my first time in Edmonton, because I wasn't born when my dad was in Edmonton, so it was a very eye-opening and very humbling experience. It's something to look forward to when I go into that locker-room, it helps me lock in like I've got to attack the day today. Not many people are in my position.”
Of course, his position on the field isn't the same one his father played on the way to throwing for 40,453 yards and 284 touchdowns to 164 interceptions, while adding 8,043 rushing yards and 62 more touchdowns over a top-notch CFL career that spanned 1987-99.
The CFL'S most outstanding player in 1989 and Grey Cup MVP in 1995 (with the Baltimore Cflers), Tracy still holds Edmonton's club record for most passing touchdowns in a season (36) and most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback (1,096).
“I talked to him a couple of times here and there during the off-season, we would watch film — watch mostly his film, he was showing off his stuff to me when he was in Edmonton — but he taught me a little bit about it,” Caleb said. “He obviously had a pretty good tenure here starting off behind Damon Allen and Matt Dunigan, both Hall-of-fame quarterbacks.
“It was very interesting how he worked his way up, obviously it gave me some motivation for when I got here, as well.”
A 25-year-old defensive back out of Fordham, Caleb's professional career began in 2019 with seven tackles in three games as a rookie with the Alouettes, his dad's final stop from 1996-99.
But the thought of following his father down the QB path certainly crossed his mind early on.
“Yes, it did, actually,” said the 6-foot, 190-pound native of Savannah, Ga. “I was about eight years old when I started and I said, `Dad, I want to play quarterback.' So, we started throwing the ball in the yard and I wasn't bad, we hung a tire from the tree and were throwing it through.
“And one day, I was doing the same thing and he brought a rush on me and I was like, `Oh, no.' I threw the ball away and he started laughing. I was like, `This ain't for me, man.'
“But I kind of grew into my own as far as the body weight and size, so it was just one of those things that wasn't cut out for me. I had to find my own way instead of following his footsteps. But the work ethic was definitely there, regardless of position.”
Caleb has spent the first week of training camp doing a deep dive into the defensive playbook, getting up to speed on defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe's system.