{"id":283338,"date":"2025-11-14T21:19:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T21:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/283338\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T21:19:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T21:19:23","slug":"als-kicker-maltos-diaz-puts-mothers-name-on-his-back-and-carries-it-into-grey-cup-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/283338\/","title":{"rendered":"Als kicker Maltos Diaz puts mother\u2019s name on his back \u2014 and carries it into Grey Cup \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG \u2013 Jose Maltos Diaz combined football and family in a special way this season.<\/p>\n

When he learned in July that his mother, Maria, was having surgery in Mexico, the Montreal Alouettes kicker looked for a way to honour her \u2014 and added her family name, Diaz, to the back of his jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was Maltos, my dad\u2019s last name,\u201d the 34-year-old said this week as he prepared for Sunday\u2019s Grey Cup game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Montreal
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMontreal Alouettes kicker Jose Maltos Diaz (19) kicks the game winning field goal during second half CFL eastern final football action against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, in Hamilton, Ont., Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Frank Gunn<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to honour my mom\u2019s last name, so it\u2019s just for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he was on one of his regular video calls with her, he had the new jersey on and turned around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI show her my jersey with Diaz, and she was just crying and happy with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Maltos Diaz, who has four older brothers, said his mom\u2019s surgery wasn\u2019t serious and she\u2019s doing fine.<\/p>\n

The name addition \u2014 common in Mexico, where two family names are often used \u2014 seemed to give him a lift, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that happened, everything goes up for me, in every aspect of my life, because I honour my mom, my dad (Francisco), because I love them and I\u2019m doing this for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He donned the jersey for the next game against the Calgary Stampeders on July 24 and connected on five field goals in a 23-21 victory \u2013 including a career-best 58-yarder with 70 seconds remaining that was a Montreal franchise record.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so happy,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m so happy because now they know me as Maltos Diaz.\u201d<\/p>\n

He finished the season with a CFL-leading 58 field goals \u2013 another franchise record. His 65 attempts were a league high.<\/p>\n

His 58th field goal was recorded in Princess Auto Stadium in a 19-10 road loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the regular-season finale.<\/p>\n

He views that as a good omen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a good thing in this stadium because I broke the franchise record here, so it\u2019s just positive thoughts now already,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to enjoy the game and the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

His family is working and can\u2019t attend the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they\u2019re watching me on TV, so I\u2019m happy, they\u2019re happy,\u201d he said, adding his girlfriend will be in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

Maltos Diaz heads into the championship on a high note.<\/p>\n

He nailed a 45-yard walk-off field goal in the East Division final 19-16 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n

So does he visualize himself kicking the game-winner on Sunday?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to say it\u2019s in my mind 24\/7,\u201d he said, adding his routines include listening to music in Spanish and reading Bible verses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just ready to go and trying to enjoy this opportunity to play in a Grey Cup for the first time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The native of Monterrey played soccer but switched to football in high school. He was a kicker at Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon. He was signed by the NFL\u2019s New Orleans Saints in 2013, but was released before the first pre-season game.<\/p>\n

Maltos Diaz arrived in the CFL as a 2018 free-agent signing by the B.C. Lions, but was released after training camp. Through the league\u2019s global initiative, he joined the Ottawa Redblacks in the 2019 draft and spent most of that season and 2022 on their practice roster.<\/p>\n

The Alouettes signed him in December 2022. He filled in for an injured David Cote over the next two seasons, but didn\u2019t play in the team\u2019s 2023 Grey Cup victory over the Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

When Cote retired before this season, Maltos Diaz got the job and has earned head coach Jason Maas\u2019s trust, especially for long kicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment we reach offensively those distances, we don\u2019t even hesitate. It\u2019s, we\u2019re going,\u201d Maas said. \u201cI think everybody on our team knows that, and Jose knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Sign<\/p>\n

Maltos Diaz was seven-of-eight from 50 or more yards out in the regular season.<\/p>\n

Given the starts and stops in his football career, he also works year-round as a residential and commercial real estate agent in the Riviera Maya south of Cancun. His clients know about his football job, and some even watch his games, he said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s in the midst of what he described as a \u201cgood deal\u201d this week, even though he\u2019s focusing on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if they\u2019re ready to go, to put money, I\u2019m ready, too,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2013 Jose Maltos Diaz combined football and family in a special way this season. When he learned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-283338","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\/283338","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=283338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}