CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders have signed five American players, including defensive backs Clifford Chattman, Tyler Richardson and Mazzi Wilkins, defensive lineman Will Choloh and quarterback Kyle Vantrease, the team announced on Thursday.
Chattman, Choloh and Richardson all spent time on the Stampeders’ practice roster during the 2023 season while Vantrease and Wilkins are newcomers to the organization.
Chattman attended training camp with the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons earlier this year and saw action in three pre-season games, recording six tackles including two tackles for loss and a sack.
He finished his collegiate career with two seasons at the University of Texas at San Antonio and, in two seasons with the Roadrunners, played 18 games and produced 90 tackles including two tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, five interceptions, one forced fumble and 15 passes defended. He was named first-team all-Conference USA following his senior season in 2022 after accumulating 72 tackles and five interceptions in 14 games.
The New Orleans native transferred to UTSA after two seasons at Texas A&M. In 17 games for the Aggies, he had 35 tackles including two tackles for loss, one interception, one fumble recovery and five passes defended.
At Troy, Choloh was honoured on the Sun Belt Conference’s all-star team on four occasions as he was on the first team in 2022 and the second team in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 62 career games for the Trojans, he had 200 tackles including 34 tackles for loss, 20.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and three blocked kicks.
Earlier this year, Richardson attended rookie mini-camp with the Indianapolis Colts.
He played 37 games over four seasons at Tiffin University before turning pro and earned all-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honours on three occasions – he was second-team all-conference in 2019 and 2020 and third-team in 2022.
Over the course of his career with the Dragons, Richardson made 113 tackles and also had three interceptions and a half-sack.
Vantrease earned third-team all-Sun Belt Conference honours in 2022 at Georgia Southern after throwing for 4,253 yards and 27 touchdowns. Both totals established single-season school records for the Eagles as did Vantrease’s 371 completions and 604 attempts.
Vantrease transferred to Georgia Southern after playing 35 games over five seasons at the University of Buffalo. As a member of the Bulls, he completed 387 of 654 passes for 4,755 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Wilkins has seven games of the National Football League experience with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens – recording three tackles – and he attended training camp with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2021. He has also been with the Alphas in The Spring League and with the Philadelphia Stars in the United States Football League.
In college, Wilkins played 47 games over four seasons at South Florida and accumulated 110 total tackles – 78 solo and 32 assisted – including two tackles for loss. He also had a half-sack, three interceptions, one fumble recovery and 19 pass breakups.
Wilkins participated in the 2019 East-West Shrine Game and intercepted a pass by Oklahoma State quarterback Taylor Cornelius, who later signed with the Edmonton Elks.
The Stampeders finished their season with a 41-30 loss to the BC Lions in the Western Semi-Final on Saturday, November 4.
