“If you were to look at my career in college, you wouldn’t expect me to be here in Year 6” – Kenny Stafford
It’s taken Stafford a long time to land a prominent role on offence.
Through four years of college and six years of professional football, the six-foot-three, 204-pound wide receiver has usually been a backup or role player.
After catching seven passes for a season-high 98 yards in last week’s 20-17 loss to the Toronto Argonauts, Stafford finds himself ranked fifth in the CFL with 294 receiving yards and is tied for seventh overall with 19 catches.
Of course, it should be pointed out that the 28-year-old speedster is only third in both categories on the Eskimos. Duke Williams, who is in his second pro season, leads all CFL receivers with 433 yards on 22 catches while Derel Walker, a two-time CFL all-star, has 350 yards on 23 receptions.
“I’m taking everything day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute,” said Stafford, who had a good thing going for a while with the Eskimos during the 2015 season, when he was on pace for 80 catches and 1,054 receiving yards halfway through August.
“I’ve been through the wringer of things – six years in the league and having one solid year of production when I was able to get an opportunity to play, to signing a big contract, to getting released from a team, to coming back to a team that knows me, to spending a year on the practice roster,” he continued. “My journey has been long, man.
“I’m taking everything day by day because I know anything can happen in the CFL. I’m just worried about assignment alignment, making the play, letting my coaches and my quarterback trust me knowing that I’m going to be where I’m supposed to be, and also catch everything that’s thrown to me while making all the plays I’m supposed to and half the ones I’m not.
“Yeah, I am happy,” he added. “I’ve worked really, really hard to become a regular starter.”
Stafford should continue to get offensive opportunities when the 2-2 Eskimos take on the 1-2 Argos at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday, presented by The Brick. It’ll be the fifth time in 16 years that the teams have played a home-and-home series, but it’ll be the first time since 2008 when the two games were split.
“Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve treated every game the same,” Stafford said. “We just want to get that bad taste (of losing) out of our mouth and give our fans a good show here at home and go into the bye with a win.”
Winning the last game before a bye week always makes the break “that much better,” he said. “You’re just feeling good; your guys are all on the upswing of things.”
The Eskimos dominated the time of possession over the first three quarters of last week’s game at Toronto, but failed to take advantage of their field position – scoring their only touchdown on a 24-yard pass-and-run play with Walker while managing to score but three points on two trips into the red zone (the opponent’s goal line to 20-yard line) – and the Argos pulled out a come-from-behind victory late in the fourth quarter.
“We were able to move the ball,” Stafford said. “We were able to be successful. But once we got in the red zone, they were able to stop us. That’s just not what we want to be known for as an offence.
“Finish. Finish. Finish. That’s the word of the week. Finish.”
Edmonton is third in the league in converting opportunities in the red zone into touchdowns (67 per cent). Toronto is second with a 75-per-cent success rate.
Stafford enjoyed his best CFL season (47 catches for 732 yards and a league-leading nine TDs) when he helped the Eskimos win a Grey Cup championship in 2015, but his involvement in the offence dropped off to only 16 catches for 322 yards over the final 11 games, including a 109-yard outburst – his only 100-yard performance in the CFL – against Calgary in the Labour Day Rematch game.
“Once again, another humbling experience, but it was for the team,” said Stafford, who caught his only target for a touchdown in three consecutive games that fall. “I was able to win a Grey Cup (his first championship). I was able to lead the league in touchdowns. I wouldn’t change that year for anything.”
His involvement in the offence started to dwindle after Walker burst on the scene with 31 catches for 472 yards during his first three games and took over Stafford’s position as the wide receiver beside veteran slotback Adarius Bowman.
“The focal point was the two-headed monster in the boundary (short side of the field),” Stafford said. “I was the deep ball guy. If anything broke down, Mike (Esks quarterback Reilly) trusted me and knew if he put the ball in the air, I’d come down with it.
“This year, I’m moving around, I’m a part of the offence, I’m showing my route-running ability,” he said. “I’m able to show that I’m a true, complete receiver. I’m glad for everything that’s happened to me, to be completely honest, because it prepared me for this moment. Now I’m ready. I don’t have a deer-in-the-headlights look.”
Stafford was good enough to start a game as a true freshman at the University of Toledo and started games throughout his four years as a wide receiver with the Rockets from 2008-11. His 59 catches for 906 yards and eight touchdowns would have been great for a single season, but mediocre considering it actually took 47 games over four seasons to compile those numbers.
“I was able to play, always able to show my ability,” he said. “I was just never showcased. I was just never ‘The Guy.’ ”
His pro career hasn’t been much different. He started off with the Calgary Stampeders in 2013, played two different seasons with the Montreal Alouettes (2014, ’16), attended training camp with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2017 and is now in his third year with the Eskimos.
“When I first came up here (to the CFL), I was just trying to make a career out of playing a little kids’ game, trying to play football,” said Stafford, a native of Columbus, Ohio. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do since I was young. Being able to get paid to play football was always the ultimate goal.
“I know there are other people going through the same things I’ve been through,” he said. “I guess I’m just walking proof that if you just put your mind to it, work, trust in yourself, trust in your abilities that you’ll be able to make it work.
“I’ve also had a little bit of luck on my side,” he continued. “I’ve had some GMs (general managers) and some coaches who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to make plays and be able to call this a profession.
“I never gave up, man. I always knew that this was something I was supposed to be doing. Did I expect it to be six years? No. My uncle (Cris Carter), who was an NFL Hall of Fame receiver, told me the average career is 3.5 years … so it’s a blessing that I’m here in Year 6, still being productive and playing at a high level.
“I see what type of perseverance I had to go through to become successful, and I’m happy, man. I’m generally happy with life and everything right now.”
Stafford played four games with the Stampeders, but was released during the off-season (although he didn’t know that at the time) and picked up by the Alouettes. He started the first 10 games with Montreal in ‘14 but was bumped to the sidelines by former NFL star Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson. He had his break-out year with the Eskimos after being traded for former Edmonton star Fred Stamps in 2015 – scoring touchdowns in four consecutive games early in the season.
Becoming a free agent, he signed again with Montreal in ‘16, but broke his toe and played only nine games. He signed a two-year deal as a free agent with Winnipeg in ‘17 “because I wanted to call a place a home, I wanted to become a player, I wanted to become a household name. I didn’t want to be switching teams (again).”
That didn’t happen, though because Blue Bombers released a shocked Stafford after training camp.
“I got released at 9 a.m. and was on a flight to Edmonton by 11:30 a.m.,” he said.
Stafford called former Eskimos regional scout Torey Hunter because he didn’t know new General Manager Brock Sunderland.
“I told him to come pick me,” Stafford recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t want to leave Canada, I don’t want to go home, just put me on the practice roster, and I’ll be there.’
“I just want to be here because I’ve always felt like this is home to me,” he added. “I’m an Eskimo for life, man. You’re going to have to kick me out of this building.”
The 2017 season turned out to be a reality check for Stafford. While he caught 20 passes for 265 yards and two TDs over five games when several receivers were injured, he spent the rest of the year on the practice roster.
“It was a real humbling experience,” he said.
He also changed his attitude.
“I was able to see the game from a different perspective, and I fell in love with the game again,” he said.
In addition, Stafford changed his entire off-season training program, referencing a quote from an unknown author that says, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.”
With the help of movement specialist Tevin Allen at Gold Feet Global and XPE Sports head trainer Tony Villani, both in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area, Stafford is now “seeing a different side of my game, and I’m loving it, and I’m excited, man.” He said they worked on everything – footwork, ball drills, running, running with the football, running after the catch, separation, route running, speed, agility.
“I’m faster, more explosive, everything. Just everything you see in my game is a total reflection of those two trainers.”
It also helped that the Eskimos coaching staff were able to see Stafford perform every day during training camp for the first time this year. In 2017, the Esks already had a set receiving corps by the time he joined the team.
“I know a bunch of (the coaches) kind of heard who I was, but they didn’t know what they were getting,” he said.
It was important for Stafford to gain the coaches’ confidence when he had chances to play last year and “get my feet wet.”
He’s not looking back this year, although he was kicking himself for taking an objectionable conduct penalty last week against Toronto when he dropped the ball and hit a Toronto player after making a 50-yard pass-and-run play into Argos’ territory in the third quarter.
“It wasn’t intentional, but that’s my fault,” he said. “I should know, especially in a close game, that I should just hand the ball to the ref, get back to the huddle and just go on to the next play. Act like you’ve been there before.
“I made that mistake and learned from it. It didn’t hurt us on the drive because we still scored a touchdown. It won’t happen again.”
SHORT YARDAGE: The Eskimos have won each of their last four home games with Toronto and eight of their last 10 games against the Argos at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium … The Eskimos are 7-3 when playing on Friday the 13th – 4-1 at home and 3-2 on the road … Williams has three consecutive 100-yard receiving games this season … Fullback Tanner Green, a fourth-round draft pick this year, was added to the active roster along with international defensive lineman Nick Usher. Coming off the roster were second-round draft pick Godfrey Onyeka and defensive lineman Rakim Cox … Cornerbacks Maurice McKnight and Nick Taylor have switched sides … Defensive end Kwaku Boateng, who was a game-time scratch last week, is still listed as the third-string defensive end … Both starting quarterbacks and head coaches will wear microphones during the game, with some of their comments heard live through the TSN broadcast.