David Moll
By Geoff Crane
Stampeders.com
When Deron Mayo was cut from the Denver Broncos roster in 2011, the thought had crossed his mind that this could really be the end of his days as a football player.
With no other offers at the time and contemplating what he should do next, he received a call from his agent informing him of an invite from the Calgary Stampeders to a free-agent tryout in Tampa, Fla.
“I wasn’t sure if that was the end of the road for me,” says the linebacker from Virginia, “but I figured I would give it one more shot and if that didn’t work out, I was probably going to end up working a nine-to-five, to be honest.”
Mayo went to Tampa along with a large group other free agents, being put through the paces of a combine including 40-yard sprints, vertical jump measurements and one-on-one coverage situations.
Some take a trip to sunny Florida to relax and soak up the tropical sunshine but, for the coaches and players who attend the camp, it’s an action-packed grind ending with a lot of hands resting on knees.
“I literally got off the plane and went through a whole day of practice,” says Mayo about his experience.
“I ran my 40 time, did all my testing and tried to showcase my best. The day after I left camp, they gave my agent a call and I made it to training camp. From there, I worked my way onto the team.”
His success wasn’t a rare occurrence either. As he looks back, Mayo remembers a few other players who were with him in Tampa who have gone on to make names for themselves with the Calgary Stampeders and in the Canadian Football League.
Names like Grey Cup MVP Bo Levi Mitchell, Joe West and former teammates Maurice Price and Chris Randle were attendees at the same camp and have all gone on to success in the CFL.
Open tryouts sometimes are perceived as a cash grab for teams and scouts with little real opportunity to land a contract.
Mayo has heard the stories, but he can vouch for his own experience.
“It’s no joke,” says Mayo. “Here, they were really looking for talent. There were a lot of good players out there.”
Stamps defensive coordinator Rich Stubler is a staple at these camps. His defences have been some of the stingiest on an annual basis and, in some cases, in league history. Relying heavily on versatile talent to shut down the high-flying offences of the CFL, Stubler looks to these camps as an important source of depth.
“As an organization, we run 10-12 camps a year in various locations across the U.S.,” says Stubler. “We are able to physically test their abilities and watch players compete in drills against each other.
“We are also able to talk to guys personally and get a sense of who they are as a person.”
From there, the Stampeders coaching staff will select players who impressed them the most. They’ll gather further film on these players, talk to their past coaches and discover who these players are and how they might fit in to the organization.
“We sign about 30 players from these workouts who will join us in Tampa along with 15 other players we may have signed before,” says Stubler. “From this pool, we will sign and bring the best to our training camp in Calgary. We select most of our rookies through the free-agent camp route.”
Looking back now, Mayo is grateful for the chance he took to attend the Stampeders free agent camp.
Now a regular part of the defence and still relishing winning the 2014 Grey Cup with his teammates, Mayo is looking forward to the rest of his career as a professional football player in Canada.
“When you look back, the journey is pretty amazing,” he says. “I kind of went in there with the mindset, like, ‘What can really come of this because it’s just a little camp?’
“The coaches take this seriously and the organization takes this seriously. Who knows? You might be playing professional ball in Calgary and raising your family as a Canadian. It’s a great opportunity.”