One of the key events of the Stampeders’ off-season is taking place this week in Florida.
The Red and White’s coaches and talent evaluators are gathering in the Sunshine State, but this is no spring break. Instead, it’s the club’s annual camp to determine which free agents will get invitations to training camp in June. But more on that event in a moment.
While it’s been months since the last game of the 2010 Canadian Football League campaign, there is no true off-season for the team as the process of building for the next season begins the moment the final gun sounds on the previous one.
Stamps brass puts in a lot of hard work during the winter to find new players. As just one example of their activity, team officials travelled across the continent this winter to attend open tryout camps in places such as Texas, California, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Oregon in an attempt to unearth hidden gems.
The last of the open tryouts is taking place this Saturday in Winter Springs, Fla.
The attendees at these tryouts include everyone from former NFLers trying to resume their career after an injury to star players from small colleges that tend to get overlooked by professional scouts. There’s even the occasional weekend warrior anxious for a chance to take part in a professional camp. For the most part, however, the tryout camps are serious business and some real talent can emerge.
For one glowing example, Malik Jackson, one of the Red and White’s standout starting linebackers, is a product of the open-tryout process.
Once the open tryouts conclude, the aforementioned Florida free-agent camp is the last step of the winter-long process to determine who gets a precious invitation to training camp and a chance to earn a roster spot or at least a place on the practice roster.
Jackson, Drew Tate, Milt Collins, Charleston Hughes and Brandon Smith are just some of the current Stampeders who came to Calgary via Florida.
One of the best part of the Florida camp is that by the time it’s over, there are only 50 days until the start of main training camp in Calgary and the 2011 season. Bring it on!