All-star kicker Rene Paredes combines football and firefighting this CFL season

Rene Paredes is the most veteran player in the Calgary Stampeders' locker room and a rookie at the fire station.
The six-time CFL all-star kicker and two-time Grey Cup winner with the Stampeders has a hybrid season ahead of him combining football with firefighting.
The 2022 season would have been the last for Paredes if he, the Stampeders and the Calgary Fire Department hadn't come up with a plan for him to pursue both professions in 2023.
So there's been a few adjustments for the 38-year-old as he embarks on his 12th season as a Stampeder, not the least of which is standing on different rungs of the ladder in each outfit.
"I'm a captain here. I'm a rookie all over again over there," Paredes said Thursday at McMahon Stadium before listing his duties as a probationary firefighter.
"I've got to keep everything clean. I've got to cook. Make sure the coffee is ready. Little things like that," he said.
Paredes works two 24-hour firefighting shifts per week. Those shifts kept him out of three on-field sessions in the first dozen days of training camp.
"I have both schedules for the whole year. I'm planning ahead. I know what days I'll miss here," Paredes said. "It won't be too crazy."
Paredes was born in Venezuela, but grew up in Pierrefonds, Que., and played his college ball at Concordia.
He says his parents are in Calgary for training camp to help out on the home front.
He and wife Melyssa have sons aged six and three.
Paredes says he won't miss any games because he's traded the three shifts on his firefighting schedule that would have bled into game days.
Paredes and special teams coach Mark Kilam have come to an understanding on the kicker's workload as Paredes gets deeper into his career.
"Even if I was here full time, I wouldn't be kicking every day," Paredes pointed out. "Kilam and I have been working together for 12 years. He knows what I need to do to get my work done."
Paredes has been Calgary's Mr. Reliable and Mr. Clutch, with the exception of a rough 5-for-8 outing in the 2021 West Division semifinal.
Paredes resumed his consistency in 2022 when he led all CFL kickers with 209 points off his boot.
His field-goal conversion rate was 90 per cent. Paredes ranked first in field goals from 40-plus yards (40).
Paredes is second all-time on the franchise's points scored list (1,908) behind Mark McLoughlin (2,957), who was Calgary’s kicker from 1988 to 2003.
In 2021, Paredes became the 10th player in CFL history to kick 400 career field goals. He's six away from a career 500.
Since signing with the Stampeders in 2011, Paredes has played every game except one in his rookie season.
Paredes earned the CFL's special teams award in 2013 and was twice the runner-up for it (2015, 2021).
He's compiled stretches of 39, 32 and 30 straight games without a missed field goal during his career.
Paredes is a perfect 11-for-11 in field-goal attempts in his five career Grey Cup appearances.
His body of work warranted accommodation of his career aspirations beyond football, Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said.
"I don't expect him to miss much," Dickenson said. "It's easier to be a kicker and do it. I don't know if it would work ... where you're actually a defensive tackle and some other position. Rene is here almost every day and he's been kicking well and he looks like he's in great shape.
"In my opinion, his salary probably is less than some other kickers that I think he's as good or better than. He made that concession in order to do these type of things, which shows he's a team player, which is what the fire department is all about as well."
Paredes confirmed he took a pay cut this season to support his current arrangement.
"I wasn't going to go anywhere else," Paredes said. "If I get traded tomorrow, I'm retiring. I want to be here. I've been here for 12 years. Calgary is my home now. There's no other team I would play for.
"We have a good team. I thought last year we would have had a good chance for a run. We have a very similar team. We've added a couple good guys here and there. I just want to win a Grey Cup."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump charged over classified documents in 1st federal indictment of an ex-president
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.

Freeland's budget bill passes House after Poilievre pledges to block it
The federal budget implementation bill passed the House of Commons on Thursday, after days of Conservative attempts to block it.
Supreme Court of Canada won't hear unvaccinated woman's case for organ donation
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
Special rapporteur David Johnston cuts ties with crisis management firm Navigator
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference has ended ties with crisis communications firm Navigator, his office confirmed on Thursday.
How the lack of gravity in space impacts astronauts’ brain
What happens to the brain when you take gravity away? According to a new study looking at astronauts both before and after space travel, that experience causes physical changes that researchers believe requires at least three years between longer missions to recover from.
Are more interest rate hikes on the way? Here's what experts say
In the wake of the Bank of Canada’s unexpected rate hike, economists are pointing to further tightening in the near term.
'Tremendous amount we could be doing': Expert shares tips for preventing, adapting to wildfires
As wildfires rage across Canada in what’s being called an unprecedented season, one expert says there’s more that individuals and communities can do to adapt and prevent forest fires from causing widespread devastation.
10-year-old girl survives more than 24 hours alone in the rugged Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
Wildfire battles continue as heat, air quality alerts affect most of Canada
Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday.