STAMPS MCDANIEL WON’T BACK DOWN FROM POSTGAME COMMENTS

CALGARY – When the Calgary Stampeders met with the media on Tuesday for the first time since losing 27-24 to Toronto in Sunday’s Grey Cup, receiver Marquay McDaniel didn’t back down from his postgame comments criticizing teammate Kamar Jorden for fumbling the ball away in the dying minutes, leading to a 109-yard scoop-and-score by the Argos’ Cassius Vaughn which tied the game 24-24.

Toronto went on to win the game on a Lirim Hajrullahu field goal in the final minute.

After the game McDaniel called the blunder “stupid” and “dumb.”

On Tuesday, the 33-year old veteran declined to soften the comments about his young teammate. But in explaining his post-game actions – and noting that he’d not been in a good place personally after a trying season – McDaniel broke down.

After more than a minute’s silence, he continued.

“You don’t know how many chances you get,” said McDaniel, 33. “This is my life. I’ve got brothers and nephews and nieces, but I don’t have any family of my own because this is what I love to do. I live and breathe football because I know one day it’s going to be over.”

Kamar Jorden, to his credit, hasn’t stuck his head in the sand.

“I woke up (Monday) morning and I had over a hundred text messages, over a hundred notifications on Facebook and Twitter,” said Jorden. “I read everything – the good and the bad. I feel like you have to embrace it. You can’t hide from it.

“The sooner I can look it in the eye and learn from it … it’ll be the best situation for me.”

Meanwhile the Stampeders plan to field a new team next year, but coach Dave Dickenson says any roster changes have nothing to do with Sunday’s heartbreaking 27-24 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the Grey Cup.

Rather, it’s salary-cap reality that dictates the inevitable personnel shakeups in the Canadian Football League.

“There’s going to be different names on the back of jerseys,” Dickenson said Tuesday at McMahon Stadium. “Hopefully, we can keep as many of these guys together as we can and get up off the ground and live on to fight another battle.”

(With files from the Canadian Press)