CFL TUNE-UP
Stamps gird to meet Esks in pre-season opener
Michael Stover was not a name that jumped out from the Calgary Stampeders’ training camp roster.
The 23-year-old Pennsylvanian was buried deep on the defensive tackle depth chart, an anonymous face with an anonymous name — a situation he’s dealt with for his entire football career. But tonight, along with the other Stampeder rookies, the six-footthree, 282-pound Stover gets his shot at the big time — a chance to suit up in an honest-to-goodness professional game when the stamps open their 2012 Canadian Football League pre-season against the Edmonton Eskimos. Suffice to say, Stover is excited. “Are you kidding?” sputtered the William and Mary product. “It’s my first professional game, so I’m ecstatic. Can’t wait.”
There are rookies playing tonight, such as first-round draft pick Ameet Pall, who arrived in Calgary late last month with the spotlight glaring on them. Stover was not one of them, but he’s used to that.
“I’ve been under the radar since I was in high school,” he said. “I was a first-team league all-star in my senior year and I still had to work to find a college that wanted to bring me in. In college, I was a walk-on to the football team and I had to earn my scholarship. And then I didn’t get any looks in the NFL, and had to go to workouts for a UFL team. So it feels like I’ve been an underdog my entire career. . . . I just go out and try to give it my all and hopefully it works out.”
So far, so good. Stover caught the eye of Stamps coach and general manager John Hufnagel during rookie camp with his constant effort and work ethic, and has continued to be a steady performer during main camp.
But as veteran defensive end Charleston Hughes noted, there have been plenty of practice-field all-stars who couldn’t deliver when the lights go on for real.
“I want to see two things (tonight),” said Hufnagel. “I want to see great effort and great discipline. Discipline, meaning playing by the rules, knowing your assignments, understanding the nuances of the game and knowing when they should be on or off the field. Just keep your heads in the game — that’s what I’m looking for. After that, make it tough decisions for the coaching staff before the cutdowns.”
The first round of cutdowns will take place over the weekend as the Stamps have to trim 10 players from their camp roster by Sunday night, so that puts an extra jolt of pressure on tonight’s game.
“We’ve been practising for awhile, but after watching that Toronto game last night, I was like, ‘OK, this is real. We’re going past the sleds, past the individual drills,’ ” said Pall, who figures to get more work tonight with the absence of veteran Canadian defensive end Justin Phillips due to a knee injury. “So I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to try to be as much in the moment as possible, and know all my assignments, and not be the guy who screws up.”
Therein lies one of the challenges for a rookie — the balancing act between avoiding screw-ups and making big plays.
“I don’t want to make any mistakes,” said Stover. “Making the big play? For a rookie, that would be very good, but you have to concentrate on minimizing your mistakes. Good assignments, good technique, always where you’re supposed to be on every play — honestly, that’s what gets you noticed as a rookie, just as much as making a big play.”
“It’s the same in any situation — you always want to be THAT guy,” added coverage linebacker Chris Randle, who’s getting the start in place of the injured Demetrice Morley. “But that’s where cooler heads prevail. Take your time, take it one play at a time and be focused on the task at hand — you can’t overthink things. You have to rely on your teammates when you need to do and play your role.”
There will be big plays and mistakes in equal measure tonight — that’s the nature of the beast in the pre-season. As well, there will be the nerves that go along with the knowledge that a career could end tonight.
“I remember I was so hyped that I almost made myself puke before the game,” remembers special-teamer Marc Calixte, who played his first preseason game in 2003. “You feel the excitement, the adrenalin is pumping — it’s just an exciting environment.
“My advice? One play at a time. Don’t try to think ahead. . . . And enjoy every single moment, because it’s through every single moment that you become successful.”