Calgary Stampeders vs. Ottawa Redblacks
Calgary Stampeders kicker René Paredes is lifted up by his team after kicking the game-winning field goal against the Ottawa Redblacks at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
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Turns out the ol’ kicker still has plenty of leg left in him.
That’s after René Paredes spent much of his 41st year doing something unfamiliar …
Waiting.
The Calgary Stampeders kicker injured his groin on the first day of training camp, began the season on the six-game injured list and watched rookie Jude McAtamney handle a job Paredes had owned for 15 years. For a player who says he has never been injured during his career, the wait was brutal.
He wondered whether his body would cooperate. Jude McAtamney was kicking well. Retirement — something he does not talk about — suddenly felt inevitable.
Throughout his career, availability was part of Paredes’ identity. He arrived in Calgary in 2011 and helped the Stampeders win Grey Cups in 2014 and 2018. This season forced him to prove he could come back before deciding whether to return for another year.
Paredes kept working and told Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson he was ready. The Red and White finally restored him to the lineup in Week 13. Four games later, he supplied one of the wildest finishes in franchise history, crushing a 62-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to beat the Ottawa Redblacks in last Saturday’s 40-38 win at McMahon Stadium — the first of a home-and-home set that continues this Saturday in the nation’s capital (1 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary 770 AM).
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To celebrate that kick, the normally restrained veteran let loose. He sprinted, threw his helmet and disappeared into a red-and-white mob.
“There were a lot of things that could have gone wrong,” Paredes said. “We needed that win, and that’s probably why it was more of a celebration.”
Calgary Stampeders kicker René Paredes played his 250th CFL game against the Ottawa Redblacks at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Gavin Young/Postmedia
Dickenson understood why the moment struck Paredes differently.
“When you get something taken away or you don’t feel like you had the opportunities, it means a little bit more when you get out there,” said the longtime leader of the Stamps.
Paredes’ contract expires after this season.
Asked directly whether this will be his last year, Paredes offered two words: “We’ll see.”
If it is the end, Saturday provided a spectacular late-career postcard.
Yet his numbers suggest his leg has plenty left. Paredes has made 14-of-15 field-goal attempts this season, a 93.3% rate, and all nine converts during four games.
But it hasn’t been as easy as it’s looked. Paredes said his rhythm and strength were missing upon his return to duty. But both came back to him gradually, leading to successful — perhaps season-saving — kicks for the Stampeders from 57 and 62 yards in last Saturday’s affair.
“I’m glad this kick wasn’t in my first week,” Paredes said. “Because I wouldn’t have made it.”
What to know about the rematch?
The Stampeders’ reward for surviving the desperate Redblacks is another meeting with the desperate Redblacks.
They visit TD Place on Saturday, seven days after Paredes rescued them at McMahon and improved the Stamps to 6-8.
They remain fifth in the West Division and in a crowded fight for a playoff crossover.
Meanwhile, the Redblacks remain winless at 0-13.
But they are getting closer, as — again — witnessed last weekend. Redblacks quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns. Stamps pivot Vernon Adams Jr. countered with 357 yards and two scores, while teammate Deonta McMahon rushed for 102 yards. Neither defence enjoyed the evening.
Calgary Stampeders running back Deonta McMahon runs against the Ottawa Redblacks at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Gavin Young/Postmedia
Dickenson expects both teams to change their approach for the second half of the home-and-home set. A full seven-day preparation week gives coaches time to retain what works while installing fresh counterpunches.
And the Red and White’s largest repair job is preventing breakdowns after surrendering five passing touchdowns.
“We did have miscommunications,” Dickenson said. “For us, the key is good communication, being on the same page and then tackle. I think we can cover, but we’ve got to tackle and do the little things better.”
The Stampeders are trying to carry forward the emotion without assuming momentum will travel.
“It’s about creating your own energy,” Dickenson said. “Show up with the juice. Show up ready to go to battle. They’ll be ready, as well, so we have to play well.”
They have to for a shot at the playoffs.
They need another win over the Redblacks to put together a late playoff push with just four games remaining in the regular season.
What about the historic kick?
Saturday’s lead-up to the big boot began with the Stampeders trailing 38-37 in the final minute-plus and their season wobbling.
The Redblacks had moved ahead on Bethel-Thompson’s fifth touchdown pass, a 15-yard strike to Justin Hardy with 1:17 remaining. The Stampeders needed points. An ineligible-receiver penalty pushed them backward and left Paredes staring at a kick that usually belongs only in pregame warmups.
Sixty-two yards. Game on the line. Two seconds showing.
Paredes followed the same routine he has repeated thousands of times. The protection held. The snap and placement were clean. He struck through the ball, watched it climb and immediately knew the contact was pure.
“I knew I hit it well as soon as I hit the ball,” Paredes said. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to get there or not, but I was pretty happy with it. Probably my best kick in my career.”
It got there with room to spare, with Dickenson estimating the ball cleared the crossbar by four or five yards. The officials raised their arms, the Stamps had a 40-38 victory, and Paredes briefly forgot the calm public persona he has maintained since 2011.
He tore off toward the sideline and launched his helmet in celebration, nearly clipping Adams. Teammates chased him down. The crowd roared. ‘El Matador’ had just turned a likely loss into a season-saving win.
And it came against a franchise that had beaten the Red and White five straight times, so the winless Redblacks left McMahon after their second consecutive defeat on a walk-off field goal.
The distance rewrote several lines in the record book.
Calgary Stampeders kicker René Paredes is lifted up by his team after kicking the game-winning field goal against the Ottawa Redblacks at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Gavin Young/Postmedia
Paredes had already matched his career high with a 57-yard field goal late in the second quarter. He first established that mark against the Edmonton Elks in the 2024 Labour Day Classic. Before halftime Saturday, he equalled it. On the final play, he added five yards.
The 62-yarder became the longest field goal in Stampeders history and the longest of Paredes’ career. It fell one yard short of the official CFL record shared by two kickers.
Paul McCallum set the 63-yard standard for Saskatchewan against Edmonton on Oct. 27, 2001. Winnipeg’s Sergio Castillo matched it against Calgary at McMahon Stadium on Aug. 9, 2025. Paredes nearly joined them on the same field where Castillo tied the mark.
The historic kick also capped a perfect personal night. Paredes converted all four field-goal attempts, from 57, 23, 19 and 62 yards, and made each of his four extra points. He accounted for 16 of his team’s 40 points in the victory.
And it goes down as the longest walk-off winner in CFL history.
The earlier 57-yarder was not perfectly struck, the kicker said, but Calgary’s altitude gave it some help.
Then for the winner, he needed to be perfect.
“I knew I had to put everything on it for the 62, so that’s what I did,” added Paredes. “I’m just happy it went in, both for myself and the team.”
tsaelhof@postmedia.com
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