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Steven Kpehe, who was recently drafted by the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, has carved a path of discipline, patience and self-belief since his time at London South Collegiate Institute.
“Sometimes, all it takes is one opportunity in sports, in life, for your entire life to change.”
That’s the outlook of Steven Kpehe, who, for most of his athletic career, has had to wait his turn.
Whether in high school or at Queens University, Kpehe was required to stay patient. But when his moment came on the field, he excelled even more than he knew he could.
* * *
Kpehe (pronounced Ka-pay-a) grew up in London, but his journey didn’t start there.
When he was just two years old, his family fled Liberia due to civil war, first landing in Windsor. When he was five, the family moved to the Forest City.
Even within London, the moving didn’t stop for Kpehe and his family. They relocated numerous times around the city, beginning in the Pond Mills area before settling near Highland Country Club.
He got his start in sport in track and field, excelling as a sprinter. His mom — a personal support worker — was hesitant at first to put him in football, a sport too dangerous and violent for her liking. But she acceded.
A self-described “late bloomer,” Kpehe didn’t first put on the pads until Grade 10 at London South Collegiate Institute. He was approached by coaches Mike Stenning and Matt Snyder, who encouraged him to try it out. His older brother, Richard, had already begun playing, and they recognized Steven’s speed on the track. Why not give it a shot?
Starting on the junior varsity team, Kpehe played wide receiver at first. That experiment didn’t last long.
“There was this play I had called jumper, and I caught zero of these jumper balls. I didn’t catch a single pass as a wide receiver on maybe eight targets. Bricks for hands. It wasn’t the best effort,” Kpehe said with a laugh.
After his short stint on offence, the junior varsity coaches — coach Gamble and coach Robinson — slotted him into the defence to see how he would fare there.
His first action on defence, he remembers, came in a small preseason scrimmage against Clarke Road Secondary. The quarterbacks were not ‘live,’ meaning that they weren’t supposed to be hit. No one had told Kpehe this (or, at least, he didn’t remember). He broke through the line with a good move and levelled the quarterback. It was not the best start to his defensive career.
The first real game of the season also happened to be against Clarke Road, who now had a bit of a dislike towards Kpehe. The youngster struggled with offside calls as Clarke Road kept hard-counting him, making him jump early.
But there were positives in the game.
“I ended up having one or two sacks, a couple [tackles for losses], so I was still making plays, though I was costing [the team] a lot of yards. They still left me out there, so that was fun,” Kpehe said.
The following year, Grade 11, meant senior ball, a new level for Kpehe, and one he knew he had to earn his spot. Though still new to the game, Kpehe never lost faith in himself. He credits a lot of that to his defensive coordinator, coach Dave Martin, who always saw something in the youngster even when his technique may not have been the best.
Halfway through his first year of senior ball, he finally got his chance to play more, and he showed great improvement. In his final year, he started every game and showed so much potential that he got the attention of some university football programs.
* * *
London South has produced numerous football talents who have succeeded in both the CFL and NFL, none more notable than current NFL twin brothers Chase and Sydney Brown. Kpehe credits the school with making the transition to university football smooth due to their guidance – and their talent development.
When the time for recruitment came, and the schools started to roll in with interest, Kpehe had a decision to make.
“I was still running track, and still quite enjoyed track and field. But ultimately, it’s that team aspect [of football], and that passion. You just didn’t really get that camaraderie with track,” Kpehe said. “It wasn’t like a bunch of guys all focused on a common goal. So, ultimately, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
Kpehe was all-in on football.
Following his decision, he started attending some camps around the province. The options were plenty. There was Toronto. Western was always there, being in his home city. And Windsor, his first Canadian home, was also an option. But Queens stood above. He attended their prospect camp, winning defensive player of the day, and fell in love with Kingston and the Gaels’ program.
“The reason I went to Queens is that Coach Snyder was the offensive coordinator for the Western Mustangs, and Coach Nesbitt was the recruiting coordinator and offensive line coach, and then the offensive coordinator at Queens, who recruited my brother to Guelph, so there were a couple of familiar faces on that team.
“And I really loved the environment and the team aspect and the camaraderie that was coming out of Queens,” Kpehe added. “I knew if I decided to go there, I was not only going to grow as a football player but also as a person.”
* * *
Similar to his high school start, his university career also got off to an inauspicious beginning. He’d joined Queens as a linebacker, being a bit undersized at the time to be a defensive lineman, his natural position. But the linebacker experiment didn’t last long. Kpehe recalls former first-team all-Canadian running back Rasheed Tucker burning him over and over again in practice.
Following a meeting, Kpehe went to look at the depth chart for his name, but it was nowhere to be found under the linebacking corps. Within his first two weeks, Kpehe thought his collegiate career was over. Downtrodden, he headed down to the field anyway, and defensive lineman Jonah Davidson shouted out to him, welcoming him to the squad.
Kpehe was confused, but he soon realized he hadn’t checked the defensive linemen chart, where he was now positioned. Even though it “stung” a bit having his position changed so early on, he quickly resettled.
“The Queens d-line group, we called it ‘Showtime.’ That group was one of the most influential groups ever,” Kpehe said. “When I say close-knit, I mean everybody just wanted to see everybody win and succeed.”
More than a few players from that group helped Kpehe along the way, but none more than the recently retired Calgary Stampeder Anthony Federico. After every practice, Federico helped Kpehe – even for just 10 minutes – to get better, living up to the Queens credo of getting 1% better each day.
Over his first few seasons with the Gaels, Kpehe didn’t see the field much other than on special teams. But his coaches saw enough in him to put his name forward for the East-West Bowl last year. He earned an invite and competed in the showcase game, which gave him the confidence heading into his final season that if he could compete with the best of the best, he could stand out for Queens.
Kpehe did exactly that, posting his best season statistically in 2025, playing in all 12 games and producing 27 total tackles, four sacks for 30 yards, and one forced fumble.
Queens also had a great season, winning their first Yates Cup since 2009.
* * *
In his senior season, Kpehe also got to step into a larger leadership role on the team. That was very important for him because he wanted to have the same impact with a new set of Gaels that Federico had had on him.
His leadership hadn’t started there. Since high school, Kpehe has been heavily involved with diversity and inclusion initiatives and was one of South’s founding members on their Diversity Council. He brought that passion to Kingston and was a voice for Black student-athletes.
“That is a role that I did not take lightly,” Kpehe said. “It was so much fun to go share my two cents, give my advice and share tips and tricks on how we can bring the community together and how we can help Queens athletics become a more inclusive spot.”
Kpehe also branched out into the Kingston community, seizing the opportunity to coach an under-12 football team called the Bayridge Ninja Turtles. It was an experience he says he’ll never forget, not because of wins or a championship, but from seeing the love for football grow in the kids.
With his Queens career all wrapped up, there were two more steps left for Kpehe if he wanted to hear his name called in the CFL draft this spring. First, he had to perform well enough at the CFL Invitational Combine to earn promotion to the National Combine in Edmonton – and then perform there as well.
It was a big ask. But just like the East-West Bowl, Kpehe realized the opportunity in front of him, trained hard, and went to enjoy the moment and do what he does best – play football.
Kpehe performed well in every aspect of the Invitational and was pleased with his performance. He was one of eight players selected to move on to the National Combine.
Edmonton was nothing like he’d experienced before. His ‘welcome to the CFL’ moment was the height and weight check, where he was one-on-one, shirtless, on a stage with about 50 CFL representatives.
“This was way more serious than it was at the [Invitational] combine, and that was a switch flipped. I was like, ‘Ok, let’s go have a combine.’”
Once again, Kpehe excelled and had a few conversations with teams at the combine. One of those teams was Calgary. Still, when it came to draft night, Kpehe’s selection came a bit out of the blue, as the Stampeders hadn’t contacted him again following the combine. The next phone call he received from the team was them informing him they’d chosen him with the 62nd pick of the draft.
Since then, Kpehe has been in Calgary, once again trying to earn his spot at the next level. He made it out of rookie camp and officially signed with the team. Now, he’s participating in full camp, gearing up for the season, which begins June 5. He couldn’t be more excited to compete with the best.
With so much going on, one thing that has always helped Kpehe is staying grounded and being humble as opportunities present themselves.
“Every once in a while,” he said, “I like to stop and smell the roses and see how far I’ve come. I think I’m somebody that Grade 10 Steven would think, ‘Man, that’s a cool guy, I want to listen to what he has to say.’”
