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It’s potentially the biggest signing of Dave Dickenson’s GM reign with the Calgary Stampeders.
At the very least, it’s interesting as heck.
On Tuesday, the Stampeders added former NFL quarterback P.J. Walker to their practice roster.
Walker is, indeed, bona fide at the pivot position.
The 30-year-old native of Elizabeth, NJ, played in 21 NFL games from 2020-23, making nine starts along the way. Seven came with the ho-hum Carolina Panthers, before two more — of marked significance — came for the Cleveland Browns during their resurgence last year.
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He was an integral part of team’s Weeks 5-7 of the NFL schedule, helping the Browns to wins over the visiting San Francisco 49ers — 19-17 — and the host Indianapolis Colts — 39-38 — before a 24-20 loss to the host Seattle Seahawks. In those respective games, Walker went: 19-of-34 for 192 passing yards and two interceptions; 15-of-32 for 178 passing yards and one INT; and 15-of-31 for 248 passing yards with two touchdowns and one INT.
But most important is he has big-league pedigree.
The Stampeders (4-10-1), who were eliminated from the CFL playoff picture over the weekend, host the rival Edmonton Elks (5-11) on Saturday at McMahon Stadium (1 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary) for the team’s final regular-season home game of the campaign.
Veteran back-up Matt Shiltz mopped up the game after Maier was tagged with another fourth-quarter INT on a ball that went through the hands of usually reliable receiver Marken Michel.
In his NFL career, the 5-foot-11, 221-lb. Walker completed 185 of 339 passes for 2,135 yards and six touchdowns while rushing 31 times for 80 yards.
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The QB led the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks to a 5-0 record in 2020 and was leading the league with 1,338 passing yards and 15 touchdowns when the season was cancelled because of the global pandemic.
In college, Walker played 49 games and made 47 starts over four years for the NCAA’s Temple Owls and finished his collegiate career as the program’s all-time leader in completions (830), passing yards (10,668) and touchdown passes (74).
Walker was the most outstanding player in the 2016 American Athletic Conference championship game in a 34-10 win over Navy and was the first Temple quarterback to lead the school to multiple bowl-game appearances. For his university career, Walker completed 830 of 1,456 passes for 74 touchdowns and also had 342 carries for 763 yards and nine majors.
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