Hamilton Tiger-Cats and former Crescent Heights Vikings football players Aaron Crawford (left) and Connor McGough speak to a crowd at a charity event in December 2018 at Crescent Heights. With Crawford's Tuesday signing in Calgary, the former Hatters are teammates again with the Stampeders.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
mccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Professional football has taken Medicine Hat’s Aaron Crawford down an unforgettable road, and it’s finally leading him home.
The 34-year-old long snapper has signed with the Calgary Stampeders, the team announced Tuesday, opening a brand-new chapter in his Canadian Football League career after seven seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“It feels great,” Crawford said in a phone call with the News. “It’s been a long road but I’m finally back.”
The announcement eased some uncertainty surrounding Crawford’s future in the league, as Hamilton announced Monday it had released the Crescent Heights Vikings alumnus from its roster. While it was all part of the plan – as the Ti-cats had agreed to release Crawford to help facilitate his opportunity in Calgary – it made for an emotional rollercoaster over the past few days.
“Once the news dropped that I had been released from Hamilton, obviously we didn’t have anything in writing yet, for Calgary, so I just had to wait to tell some people who were reaching out,” he said. “It was a really sentimental night, I guess you could say. Then (Tuesday) morning when the news dropped that Calgary is signing me, it’s been non-stop happy.”
Crawford joins fellow Hatter and Crescent Heights Vikings alumnus Connor McGough – a defensive lineman who signed with Calgary last February – on the Stamps after spending three seasons together in Hamilton. Nine years may separate the two in age, but Crawford says they’ve been connected since McGough’s time with the Vikings.
“I’ve told this story about 100 times, but when I first turned pro and my dad (Guy Crawford) was coaching at Crescent Heights, he talked about some of the young guys, and Connor wanted to go pro. I went and watched a couple games and sure enough, it wasn’t hard to see he had what it took,” said Crawford. “I went and did some work with him in the off seasons and had some good talks, and sure enough four-five years later we’re in the same locker room.”
The pair even joined forces to help raise money for the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank with a charity Q&A seminar in 2018, and both have spent time coaching with the Vikings in recent years.
“It’s exciting to be back with Connor,” said Crawford, adding he hopes to continue with community outreach as a Stampeder, both in Calgary and Medicine Hat. “I try to be involved in whatever community I’m in. In Hamilton we’ve done some outreach stuff and I’m looking to transfer some things over and hopefully be more involved out there and closer to home – do what I can whenever there’s time to come back to Medicine Hat and help with football and the food bank.”
Looking back on the first 98 games of his career – all spent with the Tiger-Cats – Crawford admits it was hard to part ways with the team that gave him the shot he needed to excel in the CFL, and the city that ultimately became a second home.
“They were the first ones to give me a real chance in the league. That’s something I’ll be forever grateful for,” said Crawford, who began his career as a sixth-round pick of the Toronto Argonauts in 2012, but also attended training camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and spent time on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ practice roster before settling in Hamilton.
“Every team was telling me they wanted me in a different spot, or to put on weight or drop weight, offence-defence – it started to become apparent that I was more of a camp body … I wasn’t getting a real shot. Then Hamilton brought me in and let me compete. Seeing I had a decent ability when it came to snapping at the time – by no means was I great – but they gave me a chance to develop that skill on their roster.”
