Vernon Adams Jr. took his place in the Calgary Stampeders’ all-time passing record book on Thursday night.
The 33-year-old signal-caller completed 20 of 25 passes for 405 yards and six touchdowns, tying a franchise record that hasn’t been touched in a quarter-century. He also scrambled for a 22-yard rushing score, giving him seven total majors amidst a 58-36 rout of the Toronto Argonauts.
“One of the better games I’ve probably ever seen,” head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson said of his quarterback’s performance.
“It was one of those where I was talking to (offensive coordinator Pat DelMonaco) and just said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have to keep scoring. I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to hold them down on the other side.’ That kept the aggressiveness going, but Vernon made a lot of those plays on his own; a couple of those passes where he’s getting dragged down, and that run was excellent too. What he’s doing is playing winning football, and you can see our receivers really started stepping up. I thought we looked fast, and we broke a lot of tackles for him too, but a great game for Vernon.”
The native of Pasadena, California, joined elite company in a five-way tie for the most passing touchdowns in a single game in Stampeders history. The mark was first reached by Peter Liske in 1967, while Doug Flutie achieved it in 1994 and Jeff Garcia followed him in 1995. All three quarterbacks went on to have successful NFL careers after those performances.
Adams was seen gesturing to the sky in exaltation after throwing his final touchdown, a scrambling shovel pass delivered with his non-dominant left hand. However, he told the media that he was unaware there was a record at play.
“No, I didn’t (know). I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said. “I was just trying to score more points, because I know I’ve got a great quarterback over there (with the Argonauts), Chad Kelly. Man, he’s going to throw it deep, and he’s going to give his guys some opportunities as well. I just kept telling the offence, ‘Hey guys, we gotta go score, we just gotta go score every time.’”
The last quarterback to throw for six touchdowns in a Stampeders uniform did so back in 2000. Adams knows him particularly well, given that he serves as his head coach. However, Dickenson didn’t realize one of his own records was on the line when he let his QB1 finish the game.
“Good thing that I’ve forgotten most of my stats,” he joked. “I didn’t even think about it, because I really wanted to…
2026-07-03 20:16:22
‘One of the better games I’ve ever seen’: Vernon Adams Jr. etches himself into Calgary Sta
