On the field, the Calgary Stampeders count on defensive back Jamar Wall to keep the opposition at bay.
At home, the Stamps captain now has an even more important title: dad.
When Wall and his partner, Natasha Carstairs were ready to welcome their second child in late September they know they wanted a home birth. But they didn’t expect it would happen in their kitchen with Wall helping deliver 7.6-pound baby Zaidyn.
“It was a very fast labour,” Carstairs said. “It happened on his (Wall’s) very last day off so we didn’t have to worry about work, practice, or his away game. Just feeling super blessed that it happened when and where it did.”
“I was able to catch him out of the womb and it was a cool experience -definitely something that I never expected to happen. Especially not on the kitchen floor,” Wall recalled. “It was really great. She did amazing, Zaidyn came out healthy, happy and now we have our family complete.”
For the record, Wall jokes catching a baby is much easier than catching a football.
Little Zaidyn has quickly enchanted big sister Taleah, and the entire Stampeders family.
Defensive back Royce Metchie has already been on babysitting duty, while other parents on the team find themselves bonding over fatherhood.
“It’s crazy the talks we have now. It’s talking about strollers, car seats and family cars and things like that,” Wall laughed. “It was me and Bo (Levi Mitchell), we said that’s how you know we’re getting old.”
Four days after Zaidyn’s birth, Wall cobbled together enough sleep to return to the Stamps line-up for his first game back from a calf injury.
The result? A dramatic 23-17 win in the first of three tilts with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“To actually finally be able to get back there and play with my teammates, man, it felt amazing,” Wall said. “We have not won two games back to back yet so that’s in our mind and we know that’s going to be our hump. We’re coming in focused this week.”
The team hopes the newest member of the Stamps family brings them some more luck this weekend as they travel to Mosaic Stadium for a rematch against the Riders on Saturday.
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