Stampeders.com Staff

Rob Maver was drafted by the Stampeders in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2010 CFL Draft.

He played every game his rookie season as the team’s placekicker and led the league in scoring with 185 points, which was also a Stampeders record for points by a rookie. He made his CFL debut on July 1 against Toronto and kicked five field goals.

After missing all but the first game of his sophomore season due to injury, he returned the next season as the Stamps’ punter where he has played ever since. He’s earned West Division all-star nods the past three seasons and was a CFL all-star in 2012 and 2013.

He twice earned CFL’s Special Teams Player of the Week in 2012 and was the Stampeders nominee for Most Outstanding Special Teams player last season.

We asked the Guelph grad to finish the following 10 sentences with the first thing that came to his mind.

In high school I . . .  was fat, lazy and out of shape. It took football to get my life on track.

Playing college football was . . . a great experience, a lot of memorable friendships and nothing really beats college life. I’m still nostalgic about it and I’m becoming more and more nostalgic about it.

I have always wanted to . . . I’ve done everything I wanted to do. I wanted to be a champion. I had never been a champion growing up playing minor-league soccer, minor-league football, throughout the university ranks. So the end of 2014, although a little bit hazy, was deeply fulfilling.

I own a lot of . . . music on iTunes. I’ve probably invested several thousand dollars in my music collection, so if you want to come over and listen to Marvin Gaye, some Frank Sinatra or some G-Eazy or the new Drake, I have it all. I just love music.

The last thing I bought online was . . . some white shoes. I am changing up the black shoes. They were made available in a white limited edition this year, so I got some white kicks.

The last compliment I got was . . . just how handsome my dog was. My dog is an extension of myself — at least, I like to believe that, though I had no hand in creating him and his wonderful looks. When you have a good-looking, well-behaved dog, I take that as a compliment to myself as well.

My first CFL game was . . . against the Argos at home on July 1, 2010. I hit five field goals, missed one and that was the only time Chad Owens has ever taken a knee on a field-goal return. And I thank him for that.

The last time I apologized was . . . sometimes I apologize to the dog for not taking him to the park every day. But actual apology? Oh, it was on the field this morning. I was working with a long-snapper and Rene and I gave Rene a less-than-stellar hold, so I apologized. After he calmed down about five minutes later, we were able to kick again.

If all the offensive linemen were on Dancing with the Stars, the one who would win is . . . Dan Federkeil, hands down. You can just tell he would embrace the dancing culture with the choice of words that he uses or when he wears shirts that are two sizes too small. You can tell the transition would be seamless and he would do very well.

Championships . . . change your life. It gives meaning to every second you’ve invested in football.