Adams excited for challenge of leading Stampeders

Six years after he first considered joining the Calgary Stampeders, Vernon Adams, Jr. is embracing his role as the new face of the franchise and someone the team will market around.

The 31-year-old quarterback was acquired by the Stamps from the BC Lions in late November in exchange for draft picks. He told the media at McMahon Stadium on Thursday that he had first wanted to join the franchise in 2018 and learn under Bo Levi Mitchell.

Adams had just been released by Hamilton, and his CFL career was at a crossroads after coming into the league with the Montreal Alouettes two years earlier. He had previously been traded from Saskatchewan to Hamilton. Adams knew he needed a strong year or his time in the league could potentially be over.

“I was actually talking to [Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson] about coming here and learning from Bo,” Adams said.

Instead of signing in Calgary, Adams returned to the Alouettes for a second stint.

“[The Alouettes] were having a QB carousel, and, in my head, I said, ‘This is my last chance.

I’ve been on three, four teams in three years. If I don’t show it now, I’m probably done,’” he said.

Adams showed well in limited action with the Als, and his career was revived.

“[Montreal] extended me, and we’re here now,” he said.

Adams spoke candidly Thursday about his journeyman career in the league. He was considered one of the league’s top quarterback prospects in the mid-2010s, but bounced from team to team. Adams said he simply had to mature in his work habits.

“Earlier in Montreal, I didn’t gameplan and study as much as I do now,” he said. “It was more just reacting and playing off athletic ability. I think that’s why I got traded so much. Coaches, they’d see the potential, but they didn’t see the work.”

Adams became the starter in 2019, a position he held until his 2021 season ended in Week 10 because of a shoulder injury. The Als acquired veteran Trevor Harris from Edmonton to fill the void, and Harris ended up taking over the starter's job from Adams in early 2022.

Despite losing his role to Harris, Adams credits his former teammate for changing his approach to the game.

“He really moulded me and helped me,” Adams said. “He sat me down and said, ‘Hey, VA. This is how we’ve got to do it. As a leader, as a quarterback of a franchise, this is how you’ve got to do it. This is how your routine should be.’ He showed me his [routine] and I made it my own. I give a lot of credit to Trevor for helping me out.”

Adams was dealt to the BC Lions midway through 2022. Last season, he was in the conversation for Most Outstanding Player with the Lions before he injured his knee in August. The Lions then signed Nathan Rourke and made him the starter, but Adams re-gained the role and started the club's playoff loss in Saskatchewan.

Adams’ arrival in Calgary means he gets another chance to work with Beau Baldwin, his head coach at Eastern Washington University. Baldwin is in his second campaign as the Stampeders’ quarterback coach. The two saw each other in Arizona last week.

"Just excited to work back with him," Adams said. "I know he's learned a lot since he's left Eastern Washington. I've learned a lot. I'm just excited to jell together our ideas and get back to work together."

Adams will now lead a Stampeders squad coming off its first non-playoff year in two decades.

“Just really happy and relieved and blessed to be in a great organization like this one,” he said. “It’s going to be great.”

Adams has remade himself since those early days where he admits he simply didn’t put in the work. He’s now known around the league as someone other players want to play for and rally around.

Adams hosts minicamps for receivers in the off-season, where they throw and get to know one another off the field. He said that one of his early priorities will be building that camaraderie and hosting his new Stamps teammates at his home in Tacoma, Wash.

“When you know your brothers off the field and you know, ‘I’m fighting for his family. I’m playing for his family. He’s playing for my family,’ you just play together more as a team,” Adams said. “You understand, ‘I know what he’s going through off the field, so I’m going to give it my all every single time.’”

Now that they have filled their biggest positional need, the Stamps can focus on other areas of their roster. Adams said he’s more than happy to help sell the organization he’s had his eyes on for over half a decade.

“I would call myself a top recruiter in this league,” he said with a laugh. “I’m going to do my best…I know a lot of players who would love to come over here and help be a part of this.”