Ka’Deem Carey is still holding resentment about the way his tenure with the Calgary Stampeders ended.
Speaking with 3DownNation’s Justin Dunk shortly after the Toronto Argonauts secured their second Grey Cup in two years with a 41-24 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Carey took aim at the team that employed him for the first five years of his CFL career.
The Stampeders finished last in the CFL this year. They have opted to keep GM and head coach Dave Dickenson around for next year, while special teams coordinator Mark Kilam and defensive coordinator Brent Monson will not be back.
“Obviously, he’s pointing the fingers. He gets rid of everybody but himself,” Carey told 3DownNation. “He got rid of the wrong people. He needs to look at himself in the mirror and just go. I mean, look at us, we’re shining everywhere else, it ain’t us.”
The Argos lineup for Sunday’s game featured eight former Stampeders, including Carey, who signed in free-agency last year.
It is worth noting that not all of them were simply abandoned by the Calgary management team and allowed to walk for nothing.
Royce Metchie wanted to return to the Toronto-area and was traded for linebacker Cam Judge, who has been one of the CFL’s elite linebackers since joining the Stamps.
Wynton McManis signed with the Argos when he returned to Canada in 2022. He had left the Stamps to pursue playing time in the NFL.
When Folarin Orimolade signed with the Argos, it came with a contract that made him the highest-paid defensive end in the league. It wasn’t a number the Stamps could match.
Carey, meanwhile, had proven himself to be a top CFL running back, but he played in only nine games for the Stampeders in 2023 because of injury, rushing for 476 yards. Dedrick Mills had run the ball for 802 yards and was five years younger, so letting Carey walk in free-agency was not an unjustifiable decision.
In his interview with 3DownNation, though, Carey made it clear he doesn’t see it that way.
“I knew who I was, it’s hard to stay healthy when you don’t have the people surrounding you to make you a great player. I didn’t have those pieces in Calgary. I came here, had all the pieces and look what it is,” Carey told Dunk. “They point the fingers and say I’m injury-prone. They had to make an excuse for some reason to get rid of me. They need to look at themselves in the mirror. It starts with the coaches, it starts with the organization.”
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