By George Johnson
Calgary Herald

Among the infestation of texts on Keon Raymond’s cellphone — a list longer, it seemed, than the Dead Sea Scrolls — as the cigars were lit and the champagne corks popped that Nov. 30th late afternoon at BC Place, one of the most appreciated originated from the Boston area.

From old pal Brandon Browner.

“He sent me congratulations,’’ recalls the Calgary Stampeders’ on-field emotional fulcrum. “Even last year, when DA — Dwight Anderson — and coach (Corey) Chamblin won the Grey Cup in Saskatchewan, he let them know he was thinking about them. We’d all played together and coach Chamblin coached us, of course. So he was excited for them, too.

“When he texted me after we won in Vancouver, so happy to see us get another one, I texted him back ‘Dude, you don’t know how long this took, man, since you left? SEVEN years. It felt like forever. But we finally did it.’

“But, you know, he was pumped. And I was grateful he thought about us.’’

On Sunday, Raymond will be thinking of Browner, tuned in to Super Bowl XLIX. So, too, will defensive back Brandon Smith, down in Oakland, and middle linebacker Juwan Simpson.

Those three men represent the holdovers from the defence of the 2008 Grey Cup-champion edition of the Stampeders that featured Browner at corner.

The storyline Sunday, Browner and his New England Patriots mates vs. his former team, the reigning Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks, sets up as a delectable one.

Adding spice: A year ago, the man who spent four seasons at McMahon Stadium was forced to miss Seattle’s 43-8 Super Bowl demolition of the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium after the NFL erroneously reported he was facing an indefinite suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy on Dec. 18th 2013 (Browner had been banned four games the season before, 2012, for a prescription-drug issue).

The suspension was later changed to reflect missing drug tests when he was employed in the CFL and the time reduced to four games to open the 2014 season, by which time he’d signed a reported three-year $17 million deal with the Patriots.

“I had a really good time up there in Canada,’’ Browner told sportswriters in Glendale, Arizona at Tuesday’s media day circus. “Chance to get out of the States, live a different life, different culture. Practice was pretty easy. Our day started at 8 in the morning, we were done at 12.

“So you can’t beat four-hour days.’’

Asked about Calgary boss John Hufnagel and Chris Jones, Calgary’s defensive co-ordinator in 2008 and now, of course, head knock of the Edmonton Eskimos, he replied: “Great coaches. Won a championship together. Huff started down here in the NFL, Chris Jones was a great D-co-ordinator up there. Both great coaches.’’

The old gang up north, for what it’s worth, still thinks pretty highly of him.

“We text consistently throughout the year. We talk about his game, about his play, I’m checking on his family,’’ says Raymond. “His daughter, my son, are about a month apart in age. My wife and his fiancée stay in contact.

“We were roommates here in Calgary, so we have a bond. He’s turned himself into one of the top corners in the NFL. I’m proud of him.’’

While Raymond’s allegiances are admittedly mixed for Sunday’s tilt — he has nostalgic ties to the Seahawks, having spent some of his youth living in Seattle — Juwan Simpson is encumbered by no such burden.

“Believe it or not, I’ve always been a Patriots’ fan,’’ he professes. “True story. Cross my heart. I’ve been a fan of Tom Brady for a long time, and when he and Randy Moss got together is when I really jumped on the bandwagon.

“Regardless of my preferences, though, any time somebody I played with, a former teammate, has a chance to accomplish something like this, I would wish them nothing but the best. And that certainly applies here.

“I know what type of guy (Browner) is, the effort he’s put forth to get where he is. He’s a heckuva player. If they do pull out the win, I’ll be the first — among thousands, I’m sure — lined up to congratulate him.

“Whenever we do talk, he says he misses Calgary, but he’s gone on to bigger things.’’

On the North American sports calendar, things don’t get any bigger, any more ostentatious or any more off-the-dial overcooked than Super Bowl Sunday.

“It’s awesome,’’ said Browner. “A dream come true. Just like everybody else, we dream of getting to this day and I’m fortunate to be here.

“It was very difficult watching my teammates play (last year) and I’m fortunate to be here this year and hopefully we make the best of it.’’

As do a few old pals who know what it’s like to party, championship style, alongside him.

Yes, even a certain long-ago Seahawks fan swung ’round by a former roomie lining up Sunday on the corner for the New England Patriots. Someone whose head says Seattle, but his heart …

“Actually,’’ reveals Raymond, amused, “I have the Grey Cup for that day. As fate would have it. Crazy, huh? I’ll probably go to one of the pubs here in town — I have a couple of options, I haven’t made my mind up yet — and go watch the game with the Cup.

“So I’ll have my championship, right there, with me, maybe, hopefully watching him win another one of his own.’’