‘Get that monkey off my back’: Vernon Adams Jr. defeats B.C. Lions for first time since trade to Calgary Stampeders

Photo: Calgary Stampeders

There was a time in his career when Vernon Adams Jr. was overt with his grudges and explicit about his perceived slights. The Calgary Stampeders’ quarterback has long since aged out of that phase, preferring now to keep his emotions under wraps in the media.

However, he couldn’t completely hide that Saturday’s 41-33 win over the B.C. Lions carried more significance than your average Week 4 matchup. After a year of waiting and disappointment, Adams finally beat the franchise that cast him aside in 2024, doing so commandingly in a showcase game.

“It means a lot,” Adams admitted to TSN‘s Farhan Lalji on the field post-game. “This is a wonderful venue they’ve got going on here, Touchdown Kelowna, so it’s awesome, man. The fans are hyped. It does feel good to get that monkey off my back, but now it’s time to get back to work and keep working.”

Adams first joined the Lions in 2022, acquired via a midseason trade to step in for the injured Nathan Rourke. He ascended to the full-time starting job the following season and helped B.C. reach the West Final. The 33-year-old appeared to take his game to new heights in 2024 and was widely considered to be the frontrunner for Most Outstanding Player at the halfway point, before he was sidelined with a minor knee injury.

That’s when Rourke made his return from the NFL, stepping in for Adams just as VA had once done for him. The Canadian QB struggled to adjust back to the CFL, but the Lions allowed him to keep playing through his challenges, even once Adams was fully healthy. That was a different approach from what took place in 2022 and fueled discontent in the locker room, leading to a late-season collapse. Rourke was eventually benched for the regular-season finale and Western Semi-Final, but the damage was already done, and head coach Rick Campbell was ultimately fired.

The Lions made a final decision shortly after the season, shipping Adams to Calgary and installing Rourke as the official face of the franchise. Both quarterbacks have described their stretch of cohabitation as emotionally difficult, but have maintained a healthy respect for one another. That remained true after Saturday’s game.

“I think that’s usually a sticking point that the media likes to go to — it’s all respect and admiration for me to VA,” Rourke said of their perceived rivalry.

“I thought he played very well today. I thought offensively, they did a really good job of having a balanced attack. I thought that he made some big plays. I thought that he did a really good job protecting the ball. I don’t think there was a ton of plays where they could have been picked today. I thought that the last couple of weeks, we’ve had more of those. I thought he just played very good football, and I’m sure he’s glad to get this one off his chest. Good for him.”

Adams had three chances to exact revenge against his former team during his inaugural season with the Stampeders, but couldn’t get it done. In Week 16, the Lions obliterated Calgary 52-23 in McMahon Stadium, and VA was forced to leave the game with an injury after throwing two interceptions. Two weeks later, he threw three interceptions as the Stamps fell 38-24 at BC Place.

Their final meeting came in the Western Semi-Final, a game in which Adams threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns to bring the Stampeders close to an upset. Ultimately, the Lions prevailed 33-30 at home. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that Rourke was later named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player, seemingly proving B.C. made the correct decision.

That accolade didn’t matter much on Saturday, as a 462-yard passing performance from Rourke wasn’t enough to make the Lions the better team. By contrast, Adams was an efficient 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) for 229 yards and three touchdowns, but committed no turnovers and did exactly what his team needed to win.

“Excellent management of the game. I don’t know what his numbers were, but I know he did what we needed,” Stampeders’ head coach Dave Dickenson raved to the media. “He’s still making plays, but he’s protecting the ball. Our receivers did step up and make some nice catches for him. I’d like to think we could have run the ball a little bit better, but I do feel like Vernon was a guy that kept everybody honest. Jitterbugged in and out of the pocket, made plays with his legs, and took easy throws as well. That’s the type of quarterback that’s going to win.”

In the end, the result will mean little in the historical assessment of the Adams trade, but it mattered to at least one of the parties involved. The primate was ripped from one quarterback’s back and placed onto the shoulders of another, as Rourke now leads a 0-3 football team courtesy of his former teammate.

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.