CALGARY — Marcus Crandell has signed a one-day contract with the Calgary Stampeders so the 51-year-old can officially retire a member of the club.
Crandell quarterbacked the Stampeders to a Grey Cup victory in 2001 in the first of his four seasons in Calgary.
“To the Calgary Stampeders organization, thank you for taking a young man who was born in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, but raised in the small town of Robersonville, North Carolina, who had big dreams of becoming a professional quarterback,” Crandell said Thursday in a statement from the Stampeders.
“This organization is truly a class act when it comes to professional sports.”
Crandell threw for 4,072 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2022, but his play over the final stretch in 2021 was remarkable.
The Stampeders were 5-9 in October when Crandell threw nine touchdown passes without an interception in three wins over the final four games of the regular season to snare a playoff berth.
In the Grey Cup, Crandell threw for 309 yards and tossed two touchdown passes when Calgary stunned the favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers 27-19 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. He was named Grey Cup MVP.
“I’m very happy that Marcus gets this opportunity to retire as a member of the Stampeders,” said club president Jay McNeil, a former Calgary offensive lineman who was Crandell’s teammate during the latter’s four seasons as a Stampeder.
“I’ll never forget Marcus’s contributions to our Grey Cup championship in 2001. We had a slow start and had to win the final game of the regular season just to get into the playoffs.
“We believed in ourselves when nobody else in the country gave us a chance but we hit our stride down the stretch and it was Marcus leading the way, capped off by an MVP performance in the Grey Cup game.”
Crandell also played for Edmonton from 1997 to 1999 and for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2005 to 2008.
He was an offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach for Saskatchewan, Edmonton and the Ottawa Redblacks after he retired as a player.
Crandell will attend Calgary’s first game of the 2025 season Saturday when the Stampeders host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
He will join fellow Grey Cup-winning alumni Doug Flutie, Mark McLoughlin, Nik Lewis, Jeremaine Copeland, Jon Cornish and Alex Singleton as the team celebrates its 80th birthday.
“I am grateful for all the time spent in the city of Calgary and performing in the presence of some of the best fans in the league,” Crandell said. “Another blessing is to have played for a great coaching staff assembled by the legend Wally Buono.
“Many thanks go out to my teammates for the hard work they displayed day in and day out as we strived to achieve success.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
The Canadian Press
