Change of plans: DaVaris Daniels reflects on finding his home in the CFL

DaVaris Daniels retired from pro football last month.

The Vernon Hills native posted 6,600 career receiving yards, scored 43 touchdowns and won three championships.

This all happened in the Canadian Football League, not the NFL, the way he imagined growing up. And that's OK.

“Looking back on it now, it all makes sense,” Daniels said in a phone interview. “It all played out how it was supposed to play out.”

Daniels was a top-100 national recruit and had two good years at Notre Dame, but his college career was cut short by an academic suspension. So instead of two more years in college, he turned pro, probably before he was ready.

In high school at Vernon Hills, Daniels did everything well. So he admits to not being a polished wide receiver when he first stepped into college. Daniels wasn't chosen in the NFL draft, went to training camp with the Vikings and didn't make the final roster. He had a few practices with the Patriots, went through some tryouts and minicamps but never suited up for an NFL regular-season game.

So in 2016, after two years of no stats or video, Canada was the next option. Maybe the last option.

“I never pictured myself going to Canada,” Daniels said. “If you would have asked me when I was going through it if I ever saw myself being in Canada, I would have considered that some sort of a failure, based on what I was trying to accomplish. Now I'm very appreciative and grateful for what it turned out to be.”

After looking up Calgary on a map, Daniels joined the Stampeders in 2016. The first thing that stood out was how great it was to be on a practice field, to set up in the locker room. Being part of a team again was special, and Daniels rode that positive energy to becoming CFL rookie of the year.

There were chances to go back to the NFL along the way, but it never happened, due to an ill-timed injury or contract commitment. Over the years he discovered something else — the CFL is fun.

“You come in there and you realize there's a 20-second play clock, not a 40-second play clock,” Daniels said. “That subtle change is a big difference. It's a super fast-paced game. It's more like a track meet or a basketball game. No lead is safe with only three downs.

“I actually love the CFL game a lot more than the NFL game, even though I watched the NFL with my dad for so many years.”

Imposing father figure

Daniels' father is longtime NFL defensive end Phillip Daniels, who played for the Bears from 2000-03. They might be closer than most father-son combos because Phillip was just 19 when DaVaris was born. DaVaris can remember watching his dad play in college at Georgia.

The Bears obviously brought the family to Vernon Hills, and DaVaris stuck around even when his father signed with Washington in 2004. Very few high school freshmen play varsity football. DaVaris Daniels dominated varsity games as a freshman, was often the best player on the field.

Teaming up with best friend Evan Spencer, who went on to play at Ohio State, Vernon Hills won its first seven games of the 2010 season by a combined score of 310-0. The Cougars eventually lost a close one to Kaneland in the playoff quarterfinals.

Daniels had 115 receiving yards in the 2013 BCS Championship Game, which Notre Dame lost to Alabama. His first two years with Calgary ended with losses in the Grey Cup, the CFL title game.

“As I came up, I wanted to be a winner,” Daniels said. “I got close so many times. You almost feel like you're the problem, there's some kind of hex against you.”

The championship window finally opened wide in 2018. First, Phillip won a Super Bowl as the assistant defensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. DaVaris ran out of the stands to give his father a hug when the game ended.

Then Calgary beat Ottawa in the Grey Cup later that year, giving DaVaris his first championship. DaVaris added two more Grey Cups with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and '24, then Phillip won a CFL title last year as a coach with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“I was always a big football guy, seeing my dad's entire career,” DaVaris said. “I used to throw fits and cry whenever the Bears would lose to the Packers or some team. I just always really wanted him to win. Anytime either one of us wins, it's amazing.”

Canadian payback

Asked the best thing about living in Canada, Daniels says it's the people. In Calgary there was also spectacular mountain scenery, while Toronto is loaded with great restaurants.

“Everybody's really nice,” Daniels said. “It's like a really big community.”

Daniels' wife is from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and he has two sons, ages 7 and 3. So he decided to set up shop in Toronto and give back to the football community.

He started Elite 80, which does skills training and brings 7-on-7 teams to the U.S. to face top competition. Considering how many great NBA players are from the Toronto area — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, R.J. Barrett and Dillon Brooks are just a few — there's probably some great untapped football talent as well.

“The biggest deficit they have is resources,” Daniels said. “They don't prioritize the game as much as we do in America. I'm trying to get them closer to everything I got to experience. It's fun, man, I love it.

“For me, I had to figure out if I wanted to go home and do this, where everybody's doing it, or stay here where nobody's doing it. It made sense to try to do that here, because it's really an open market.”

Once again, Canada turned out to be a land of opportunity.