The last time Spencer Armstrong played in a football game was in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 31, 2008. He’s been waiting to join the Stampeders receiving corps for more than four years. 

When the Air Force Academy grad was drafted by Calgary in 2009, both he and the team knew he would have to serve in the U.S. Air Force for at least two years before he could pursue his dream to play pro football.

As a contracting officer for the Air Force, two years turned into four — and on Sunday, Armstrong finally arrived at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

“We have guys coming out of the Academy going to the NFL and they would make them serve for two years and then they’d transition them into the reserves,” said Armstrong after Sunday’s practice. “With my case, I have a high-demand job in the Air Force so they weren’t as eager to let me out as some of the other guys.”

After graduation, Armstrong served three years at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nev. Last summer, he was deployed to Kuwait City and then spent a year stationed in Boston.

All the while, he had his sights set on becoming a Calgary Stampeder and worked hard to stay in shape. He says he’s in better shape now than when he graduated from college.

“My schedule was pretty crazy when I was stationed out in Boston,” he says. “I was getting up in the morning and getting a workout in and then I’d hit weights at lunch, go back to work and then in the afternoon we’d go to Harvard and we had a quarterback and a defensive back out there, so I was getting some good one-on-ones and some good routes in.”

Armstrong has been following the Stampeders and admits it was difficult to watch games knowing he could be playing. He’s been studying his playbook and is excited to get out on the practice field with his new teammates.

“Just seeing everybody out there and watching the Stamps games week in and week out, it really motivated me to keep this dream alive,” he said.