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Published Sep 05, 2025 • Last updated 13 minutes ago • 5 minute read
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Calgary Stampeders reciever Erik Brooks is pursued by the Montreal Alouettes at McMahon Stadium on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Brent Calver/Postmedia Photo by Brent Calver/Postmedia /Brent Calver/Postmedia
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Dave Dickenson saw enough of Erik Brooks in his rookie Canadian Football League campaign to expect big dividends from the wide receiver/runback artist in 2025.
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So how’s this for a big return, Coach?
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An 86-yard punt shag-and-score to clinch the Labour Day Classic victory for his Calgary Stampeders.
“It really did break the game open,” said the GM/head coach, reflecting on the explosive play for a touchdown in Monday’s 28-7 drop-kick of the rival Edmonton Elks at McMahon Stadium. “(Their punter) had what we call an alley bomb — big leg and a huge spiral.
“But it was a long one, so it’s a lot of field to cover.”
And Brooks took advantage of that to ensure the Stampeders (8-3) the first leg of the annual two-game set with the Elks (4-7) in early September.
The second tilt for bragging rights in the CFL’s Battle of Alberta goes Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton (5 p.m., TSN, CHQR 770 AM/107.3 FM the Edge), where the Stamps’ main return man is hoping to add to his professional shag-six total …
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That being one.
Brooks starred for five seasons — from 2019-23 — with the NCAA’s Fresno State Bulldogs. In 52 games on the California squad, he had 20 punt returns for 172 yards and one kickoff return for 35 yards.
But he didn’t take one to the house.
“To finally get one, it felt really good,” said Brooks, of his first CFL return for a TD after 350-plus yards of punt returns and 469 yards of kick returns in two years with the Stamps. “I had a return in college get called back. I had a couple up here that I was this close to breaking.”
“First play of the game (Monday), I thought it he was gonna take that kick return back,” said Stamps quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. “And then especially with myself struggling in the big part — the middle part — of the game, and he does that for us? It takes a lot of pressure off me and just helps us out as an offence.
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“So … ‘Shout out, E.B.’”
Shout out every Stamps player on the field on the play — a third-quarter runback that saw Brooks first weave one way and then the other before zipping past a gang of Elks on to paydirt.
“It was electric,” said Brooks, of the support he got from the 27,000-plus fans on hand to watch him rip up the McMahon turf. “I heard them getting loud. And I just thought, ‘Don’t get caught — don’t get tackled.’ Once I broke away, I was ecstatic. And once I got in the endzone, it felt really good. The crowd was, for sure, behind me.”
His teammates were in front of him, blocking to perfection.
“Really, what we tried to do is get more cover people on our roster, because it was high respect for their return game and their size and strength,” Dickenson said. “So we actually used our bigger lineup, putting out a few more guys — and it paid off. I think it was the right decision.
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“Obviously Erik’s good, but we also covered extremely well.”
And his first TD return wasn’t just any old score.
It was timely in the contest, with Adams and the offence stalling despite a 13-7 advantage.
“Definitely, we were kind of in a rut,” said the 26-year-old Brooks. “I had a drop earlier in the game, when V.A. threw me the ball. So that was kind of eating at me a little bit. So I was just happy to get out there and be able to make a big turning point in the game.”
It wasn’t just big.
It was huge, giving the 5-foot-7, 171-lb. dynamo plenty of value in the Stamps attack.
“Eric, he’s been a returner,” Dickenson said. “He’s very valuable on offence, as well.”
Indeed, he can catch, too.
With Fresno State, Brooks had 128 catches for 1,548 yards and 10 touchdowns, Included was a career-best season — in his final year of 2023 — when he counted 60 catches, 788 receiving yards and five touchdowns as he earned all-Mountain West Conference honourable-mention recognition. He had 170 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the visiting Purdue Boilermakers and a season-high 11 catches for 104 yards versus the host Arizona State Sun Devils.
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Now with the Stamps in Year 2, Brooks has 343 receiving yards on 29 catches for two touchdowns.
Those numbers already dwarf what he did in a limited CFL debut season, when he caught just three balls for 53 yards and one TD.
But, of course, the native of Irvine, Calif., broke his arm just six games into the year and didn’t return until training camp this spring.
So this — now — is his coming-out party.
“Anytime you can get the ball in your hands, I feel like it’s a privilege,” added Brooks. “You know … not everyone on the team gets an opportunity to have the ball in hand and make something happen. So I look at it that way. You know, the team gets the trust in me that when I have the ball in my hands, I have to take care of the whole team and make something happen.
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“I do think special teams is the spark,” added Dickenson. “I think that offence and defence is the line of scrimmage, toughness and all that. But when you get those plays on special teams, it’s huge.”
SHORT YARDAGE
DL Jaylon Hutchings (groin) is a game-time decision as the starting weak-side defensive tackle … FB William Langlais (illness) comes out of the lineup, with lineman Rodeem Brown— in a twist — starting at the fullback spot … LS Aaron Crawford (knee) gets back onto the roster after injury sidelined him for a few months. Also coming into the lineup is DB Kaylyn St-Cyr and DL Shaun Peterson Jr. … Also out are LS Jason MacGougan, LB Morice Blackwell Jr. (knee) and DL Anthony Federico (ankle) … The Stampeders released American RB Eno Benjamin this week. The Arizona State alum appeared in two games with the Red and White this season, dressing for contests in Weeks 3 and 5, and had 80 kickoff-return yards, 43 punt-return yards, seven rushing yards and one catch for 10 yards.
tsaelhof@postmedia.com
www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM
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