It’s Heritage Night at McMahon Stadium this Friday and the organization will be celebrating the rich and diverse background of our players, fan base and city.
Part of the festivities include tents with displays from Azerbaijan, China, India, Morocco, Sudan, and Ukraine set up at the Heritage Night Market in the East Fan Zone from 5-7 p.m.
On the field, 100 Ukrainian refugees will be holding the flags for the anthem and the halftime show features a performance by Indian pop artist Ikky.
Receiver Marken Michel is just one of many Stamps players proud to represent their diverse cultural backgrounds.
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His parents emigrated to Florida from Haiti shortly after Marken’s older sister was born. The 30-year-old was born in Orlando but states that the Haitian culture remains a large influence on his life.
“I take pride in my heritage and the way my parents brought us up with the Haitian culture in our household,” he explained. “It’s going to definitely be fun that night to represent my country.”
Michel returns to the Red and White after four seasons in the NFL where he spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, and Washington Commanders. His brother, Sony, played running back for the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Chargers before announcing his retirement last week.
The brothers won championships in their respective leagues during the same season with Marken winning the Grey Cup as a member of the Stamps in 2018, and Sony winning the Super Bowl alongside Tom Brady and Co. during the 2018-19 NFL season. Sony won another Super Bowl with the Rams in 2021.
“I think I’m definitely making my country proud,” said the UMass alum, noting that he gets recognized by fellow Haitians often.
“Absolutely, all the time,” he grinned. “It’s funny because there’s an annual Haitian festival down in Miami and this past May – it’s always between April 18th and May 22nd – and this past year I was at the festival, and somebody looked at me and recognized me which was kind of mind-blowing to me.”
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It didn’t take long for Michel to get re-acclimated with his former squad. Although he hadn’t played a down of CFL football since the fall of 2018, Michel quickly picked up where he left off in his first game at home against the Ottawa Redblacks in Week 7.
He led the receivers in passing yards that night with 134 and scored two touchdowns – one that went for 30-plus yards and another for 95.
When asked about his offensive success, he credits his teammates.
“We have a great group of guys on this team,” he explained. “There’s a lot of guys who show humility, and they welcomed me in with open arms. There’s no one person on this team that has an ego too big to help another guy out and I was very appreciative of that. They definitely helped me to gel seamlessly with them.”
As one of the veterans on Nik Lewis’ receiving corps, his message to the younger pass catchers is this:
“Just play the game and quiet the outside noise. None of that stuff really matters at the end of the day. When you step on that field it’s you against you. The other opponent is a nameless and faceless opponent – it doesn’t matter.
“Your mindset should be ‘I’m going to beat this guy every single play’, regardless of the good, bad, or ugly.
“I say every week, I make the guys promise me one thing: that they’re going to have fun. When you have fun and play loose, you make plays.”