René Paredes says his hip injury led him to retire from the CFL after a 15-year career with the Calgary Stampeders.
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René Paredes formally bid farewell to the CFL on Thursday, ending a 15-year career with the Calgary Stampeders.
At a news conference at the Stampeders’ football offices, the 41-year-old said, “Sitting here today might be the toughest,” adding that football had been “more than just a game” and that he was “most proud of is being able to spend my entire CFL career with one team.”
Paredes’ field-goal success rate finished at 87.6 per cent, the second-best in CFL history behind Sean Whyte’s 89 per cent.
He appeared in five Grey Cup games, including Calgary victories in 2014 and 2018, and did not miss a field goal in those appearances. His longest career field goal was a 62-yard attempt on Sept. 19 against the Ottawa Redblacks, one of his 13 game-winning kicks.
With 2,559 career points for Calgary, Paredes ranked second in club history behind Mark McLoughlin, and he was a six-time CFL all-star who won the league’s special teams award in 2013.
The Stampeders kicker also set the CFL’s Ironman record for consecutive regular-season games played, appearing in 247 straight games between 2011 and 2025, before a hip injury sidelined him for the first 10 games of the 2026 season.
Paredes said his injury was the key factor in the decision, telling reporters Thursday, “One of the biggest reasons is my injury,” and that he had been “hurt in the last five years and this year really took a toll on me.”
Jude McAtamney, 26, handled field-goal duties during the time Paredes was out, before Paredes returned later in the season.
Stampeders head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson praised Paredes’ ability to come back and perform in key moments, saying, “Clutch is the main thing,” and that when pressure was highest, Paredes “seemed to make them all.”
Paredes entered the CFL as an undrafted kicker out of Concordia University and was cut by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before the 2011 season. He returned to Montreal before trying out again with the Stampeders, when Rob Maver was injured and Paredes took over field-goal duties.
Maver described Paredes as steady every day, saying, “He was the same guy, every kick, every practice, snaps, wind, holds, how the balls were, the turf conditions, he went out and did his job every single day.”
Paredes said kickers are likely to face a different CFL in 2027 when the goalposts move to the back of the end zone, adding, “Kickers are going to have less kicks, right?”
He said he works for a property restoration company in Calgary and wants to coach young kickers in the community.
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