Calgary Stampeders to honour former player diagnosed with ALS

It's going to be an emotional night for Glenn Love Jr. The former Stampeder, diagnosed with ALS last year, will be honoured during Friday's game.

Glenn Love Jr. had some of his best years in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders.

Love played four seasons with the red and white, and in 2014, he realized a dream—hoisting the Grey Cup with Calgary.

Life after football was also good for Love.

He became a successful stuntman, picking up many credits.

(Most recently, he worked on the new movie Him.)

But in July 2024, just days after his daughter BelleVie’s first birthday, the then-35-year-old was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressively debilitating disease for which there is no cure.

On Thursday, Love was at McMahon Stadium and says none of this has been easy.

“I’m holding out, taking it day by day,” the soft-spoken Love said.

“Just blessed to have people and the community behind me for support, having my little girl, having her look up to me, and smiling at her dad trying his best to be there for her.”

Emotional night

Love is in Calgary because the Stamps are honouring him during Friday night’s game against the B.C. Lions.

Love says it just shows what kind of organization it is, and it means a lot to him.

“When you make the team, they tell you you’re family, and this kind of proves it,” he said.

“I’ve been gone for x amount of years, and Dave (Dickenson) asked me to come back and say hi to the team and be honoured at the game. It’s fantastic to see this community keep growing and being who they are—the Stampeders.”

For the Stampeders, honouring Love was a no-brainer.

Head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson hopes it will help.

“I think he needs a little uplifting, and I think it’s important to do that,” he said.

“It’s the right thing to do, but it also makes you feel good. It’s what we should do, and it’s also why we play the game and have that extended family.”

Visiting familiar faces

Love played with René Paredes.

He also played with Derrick Moncrief in Saskatchewan, Adam Bighill in B.C. and Vernon Adams Jr. in Montreal.

Adams says he hopes being around them can help lift Love’s spirits.

“It’s just a sad thing to see, but I’m happy that he is here and raising awareness,” Adams said.

“Seeing him with former teammates and things like that, we can definitely feel his love, and hopefully we can get a win for him.”

Helping others

Love wants to do what he can to help others who have been diagnosed with the disease.

“When you’re diagnosed, you feel alone,” Love said.

“You feel like no one else can relate, so I want to make sure that if a patient gets diagnosed with ALS, there’s a family behind them wherever they’re at.

“As time goes, your progression keeps going. You lose more function, so walking your dog or taking a shower or getting a haircut—we want to help out with things like that.

“And also the medicine that you take because it’s a very expensive lifestyle having ALS.”

Love’s sister Heather has set up a GoFundMe page to help her brother with costs.

Love says a portion of the money raised through the online campaign will go to ALS research.