Stamps’ Claybrooks: People are underestimating us

DeVone Claybrooks can’t help but shake his head.

“It’s great because usually the only time we get talked about is because of the three-game losing streak,” the defensive coordinator of the Calgary Stampeders says. The words come out with a laughter that has a hint of disbelief to it.

“I saw one article that talked about the most talked about teams in the league. We’re like seventh or eighth, with the best record, dot dot dot,” he says, leaving a long list of qualifiers floating for you to ingest.

“We’re getting press now for the wrong reasons. So you know, hopefully we can turn the tide. That’s what we’re out here for.”

This is an argument that Claybrooks has been making for more than a month. The Stampeders are the host team in the Western Final, which, he’d like to remind you, means that Calgary finished atop of a division that’s as competitive as its ever been. The defence that he orchestrates is only No. 1 in:

He seems somewhat annoyed that despite that body of evidence, despite the team he’s been a part of as a coach and player for the last nine years having been in the playoffs every year and in the Western Final seven times, they get overlooked.

He wonders if it’s because of their success that the expectations are through the roof. It’s what the New England Patriots and San Antonio Spurs deal with every season. ‘Of course you’re here right now. Where else would you be?’

“It’s one of those given things and now it’s like, ‘OK, is there a dent in the armour? Are they in cruise control? Are they going to be able to put the switch back on?’” he says. “There are a million questions, but nobody’s in our locker room, nobody’s in our meeting rooms. They don’t know what we have, the unity and the commitment to excellence and the standard that we have around here.”

No matter which sport you watch, there’s always something bright and shiny out there, distracting you from what’s been in front of you all season, just about every season. Listening to the Claybrooks, there’s an edge to him about that.

And that’s where squint-inducing Edmonton, on a six-game win streak, playing its best football of the season behind an MOP candidate in Mike Reilly, comes in. Sunday’s Western Final — the third time these teams have met here in the last four years — has the makings of a classic Battle of Alberta. Between the white lines and now on the side of them, Claybrooks has seen his share of this matchup. He knows it’s special.

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“It’s great. In order to get to where you want to get to you, want to play the best, and right now they’re playing the best football,” Claybrooks says.

“They’ve got to come into our house, which is a great blessing to us. That’s why you play that regular season, to get the one game at home to get to the Grey Cup and not have to go through two.

“You’ve only got one game to show what you’ve got. You’ve got 60 minutes and we understand that magnitude and we’re at our best in this situation. This is where you want to be, in the Battle of Alberta, you can’t ask for more than that. They’re kicking like hot grease right now and they’re doing their thing.”

A win on Sunday might not convince the doubters that emerged through the Stamps’ season-ending losing streak, but it’ll get them one step closer to what they’ve been thinking about for almost a year now.

“The attainable goal is what you aim for,” he says. “You try to be perfect week-in and week-out. If you shoot for the moon you hit a star. That’s our whole mindset and that’s what we’re trying to do.”