Former Stampeders Coleman, Goldsmith get Canadian football hall call

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When Marvin Coleman arrived in Calgary, the CFL squad here gave him jersey No. 17.

Not the usual number for a defensive back in those days.

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“I was like, ‘Oh, man,’” said the 52-year-old Coleman, recalling the 1994 start of his seven stellar seasons with the Stampeders. “My first impression was they’re not really looking for me to make the team …

“Because that’s a quarterback number.”

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Of course, it wasn’t his arm that made Coleman one of the best to ever play defensive back and make him a threat as a dangerous kick returner in the three-down game.

It was his legs, feet and heart that’s putting him in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, with his name announced early Friday as part of this year’s inductee list.

Coleman joins another former Stampeders star in getting the hall call, as linebacker Vince Goldsmith is also among the Class of 2024.

The others slated to be inducted into the CFHOF on Friday, Sept. 13 in Hamilton are receivers Chad Owens, S.J. Green and Weston Dressler, builders Ray Jauch and Ed Laverty and Football Reporters of Canada personalities Farhan Lalji and Steve Daniel.

“Growing up, I always played football,” said Coleman, who got the call that he’s about to become a hall-of-famer from former Stamps head coach Wally Buono. “I always was a small guy playing against bigger guys and bigger competition.

“But one thing about it, I always had that grit and always played hard. And coming up, I always was one of the better players on the team, offensively and defensively. I went to college as a running back, and then the defensive backs got hurt. And the coach was like, ‘Well, Marvin played DB in high school.’ And so I switched over to defensive back, and then the rest was history up there in Ohio.

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“I always felt that I was a real good player. I didn’t really brag or boast about how good. I let everybody else do that. But I figured out I was a real special player, because a lot of people was telling me that when I was growing up, and then it just stuck with me and I kept working all the way to the CFL.”

Coleman’s career spanned 10 seasons (1994-2003) and 166 combined games with the Stampeders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as he earned nine divisional all-star nods, three CFL all-star selections, two Most Outstanding Player nominations and a rookie-of-the-year candidacy for the Stampeders.

As a defensive back, he tallied 28 interceptions — six of which resulted in touchdowns — and 538 tackles.

As a dynamic returner, he still sits fourth all-time with 5,211 punt-return yards, in addition to his 11,545 kick-return yards and seven touchdowns.

The product of the NCAA’s Central State Marauders in Ohio made four Grey Cup appearances, capturing the iconic trophy in 1998 and 2001 with the Stampeders, for whom he played 122 games.

“The good thing that I had going for me when I got into Calgary was Marvin Pope,” said Coleman of the Stamps linebacker and former teammate. “I played with Marvin Pope in college. I played against him in high-school basketball. And then going to college and then seeing Marvin Pope and him kind of taking me up on this wing because I’m from Florida, and then me going to Calgary and seeing Marvin Pope again and he took me up under his wing again, that made the transition easy to be up there in Canada.

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“He always pushed me to be the player that I was.”

Goldsmith, who got the hall call from Saskatchewan Roughriders former teammate John Hufnagel, was with the Stampeders from 1985-87.

The linebacker entered the CFL in 1981 and notched 17 sacks to earn the most outstanding rookie award and be saluted as a CFL all-star — his first of three division nods over a 10-season career (1981-90).

He played in 163 contests to total 130.5 sacks, ranking eighth all-time in the league. In 1983, the former NCAA Oregon Ducks star collected a career-high 20 sacks. Across a consistent career, he went on to register 10-or-more sacks on eight occasions.

Goldsmith was known for his time with the Roughriders — with whom he opened and closed his CFL career and won his only Grey Cup in 1989 — and was traded to the Toronto Argonauts before hitching his wagon to the Stampeders after the Argonauts traded him to the Edmonton Eskimos, after which they released him three days later.

“So I went home for a month until the season started shaking out,” Goldsmith said. “People weren’t playing well, or people were getting hurt. And then I was able to get a contract there at Calgary. And I think Steve Buratto was the coach of Calgary at the time. And I went into Calgary, and the day I went there, he got fired. They fired him, and Bud Riley became the head coach. And at that time, they were just cleaning the house and bringing in people in, looking at people for next year because they were going to be doing a rebuild.

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“And I went in, and I did pretty well,” added Goldsmith. “In Calgary, I was able to get back on my feet and re-establish my career. And we did well, and we actually won some games, and we got into the playoffs a couple times. So that was good in Calgary, at that time. It hadn’t been to the playoffs in a while. And Calgary is a good city also.”

SHORT YARDAGE

The Stampeders have released American defensive backs Jonathan Moxey and Julian Charles. Moxey played 50 regular-season games and three playoff contests over four seasons with the Stamps. Charles appeared in three games in 2023, his only season with the Red and White … The Stamps have signed a pair of receivers — American Erik Brooks (Fresno State) and Canadian Maxim Malenfant (University of Ottawa) … They also inked Canadian offensive lineman Kyle Saxelid, a veteran of 38 Canadian Football League games with the Edmonton Elks and the Tiger-Cats, and rookie American defensive back Kenyon Reed … The Stampeders’ 2024 rookie camp begins Wednesday at McMahon Stadium. Main camp gets under way Sunday, May 12.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM

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