{"id":260850,"date":"2025-11-04T10:42:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T10:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/260850\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T10:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T10:42:17","slug":"disappointment-fueling-desire-to-stay-as-calgary-stampeders-clean-out-lockers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/260850\/","title":{"rendered":"Disappointment fueling desire to stay as Calgary Stampeders clean out lockers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Amun Grewal\/B.C. Lions<\/p>\n

The last few seasons in Calgary have played out a similar refrain on locker room cleanout day. Players and coaches, disappointed with how things ended and uncertain about whether or not they would still be in Cowtown come training camp the next year \u2014 or if they even wanted to be.<\/p>\n

The 2025 edition was different. The attitude mirrored the vibe shift that was on display all season in the Stampeders\u2019 locker room. All of a sudden, players want to come back here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something special about Calgary, man,\u201d said pending free agent receiver Dominique Rhymes. \u201cIt made me fall back in love with football.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you play football for a long time, you get used to it. You just get up and go to work. You don\u2019t feel like you have a purpose. This year, it felt like I found my purpose all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhymes wasn\u2019t the only one to heap praise on the room. Reggie Begelton told the media this is the closest team he has been on during his decade-long CFL career. League-leading rusher Dedrick Mills also talked about how tight-knit the squad has become.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole team came together as one unit and figured out what we wanted as a team. Being around each other, joining each other and embracing each other. Learning (about) each other\u2019s families, people that have kids on the way and any little thing,\u201d Mills continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about supporting that person, you know? Just having that energy, and the new leadership we had in the locker room this year took over and just showed how to care about individual people as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

That leadership came, in part, from new quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who sees his first season as a solid beginning as to what this franchise can become. He told 3DownNation that restoring the locker room culture was the first thing he had to do when he arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard so many bad things about this franchise over the last two years,\u201d VA said. \u201cI wanted to come in and lead and bring energy and make sure I\u2019m interacting with everyone on the team. Specialists, defensive guys, O-line, not just sticking to my own group or just the offence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson didn\u2019t directly mention the CFLPA survey that was published this past offseason<\/a>, but he did mention how the Stampeders took care to address several of the damning issues from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an organization, we did a lot of things to help our players feel like they\u2019re important,\u201d he said. \u201cWe changed a lot about our club here: our weight room, our food, our turf was new, and the connections our ownership made to the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, for each glowing review of the room, it was accompanied by a sense that the team deserved better in their game against the Lions on Sunday. There was also a belief that if they can keep the band together, they have something special as the team gets set to host the 2026 Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

When asked about the upcoming work of the offseason and the list of notable names set to become free agents, including most of the starting defensive line, Dickenson was optimistic that this time, he\u2019ll be able to keep players from leaving for greener jerseys, er, pastures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think we have a good feel for the guys. I think they enjoyed being here, and I think they feel the team is trending upwards, which should help you in free agency and in getting guys signed back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur best players seem to be in the early stages of their careers. We also have a chunk of guys in their 30s, and some of them got hurt and were unable to be with us. We are going to have some tough decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickenson will get help from his QB1, as Adams has once again gone on record that he will be doing what he can to recruit potential free agents and convince his current teammates to stay<\/p>\n

He also agreed that the sell job will be easier than it was last year, given the success of the 2025 team.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys want to be part of winning teams,\u201d Adams said. \u201cWhoever Dave wants me to go after, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

One guy who seemingly can\u2019t wait to put his pen to paper is Mills, who was emphatic about his desire to return.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Calgary. I love being here,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I get the opportunity to come back, I will. I just love it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that sentiment holds true for the rest of the team, McMahon Stadium will be the place to be next November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Amun Grewal\/B.C. Lions The last few seasons in Calgary have played out a similar refrain on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-260850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}