Chad Rempel (46) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers warms-up before the game against the Calgary Stampeders at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, MB. Thursday, July 21, 2016. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
He makes it all look so easy now, so rhythmic and so robotic it really has an assembly-line feel to it.
Chad Rempel has proven rather adept over the last six-seven years at hunkering down at the line of scrimmage, bending over and firing a perfect spiral of a long-snap back to Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Justin Medlock, or to the holders Weston Dressler and Matt Nichols.
One after the other after the other after the other. Virtually all of them the same and all on target.
Rempel officially re-signed with the Bombers on Monday, inking a two-year contract that will further extend the 35-year-old’s Canadian Football League career. And there’s a story behind this too, as just a few years ago Rempel – drafted as a highly-touted receiver out of the University of Saskatchewan – was creeping up on 30 and struggling just to stay on a roster.
Toronto Argonauts Chad Rempel, right, celebrates getting the first touch down of the game with teammate Spencer Watt during CFL football action against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg on Friday, October 28, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ruth Bonneville
Selected by the Edmonton Eskimos in the fourth round of the 2004 CFL Draft, Rempel was let go in training camp that year and signed by Bombers a year later, dressing in nine games before bounding to the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and then back to Toronto.
And it was roundabout 2009 when Rempel – who had never snapped a football before in his life – saw his career flashing before his very eyes.
“I had struggled with injuries and was a spot receiver and special teamer just fighting to stay on a roster at that point,” said Rempel Monday from the family’s home in Saskatoon, where he is spending the holidays. “I was five years in and knowing that they were always trying to find the next guy. And so I was looking for something more that I could offer to make myself more valuable.
“The long snapper for the Argos at the time had retired and they were asking anybody on the roster if they could snap. I didn’t offer myself up because I couldn’t, but I did go home and Jeff Keeping showed me some of the basics and I just started snapping whenever I could after practice hours.”
That was enough to help Rempel stay in the Argos plans – he dressed for 11 games in 2009, splitting time at the long snapper position – but that offseason brought more change and more doubt.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike OShea and Chad Rempel (46) before the game between the Calgary Stampeders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, AB. Saturday, September 24, 2016. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
The Argos complete makeover that winter meant there was a new special teams coach – a guy named Mike O’Shea – and he wanted to know if Rempel could get it done. The two chatted in December and, knowing he would be tested every time the club auditioned a kicking candidate over the winter, Rempel really got to work.
And it’s here, he’ll readily admit, when the long snapping craft became an obsession.
“It’s tough to practice in the winter,” explained Rempel. “I lived in a condo that had this storage room that had about a 17-yard hallway. I put some duct tape on the wall – a big square with an ‘X’ in it – and got about 10 or 12 footballs and would just snap into that target all the time.
“People would walk into the storage room and they’d be like, ‘What the heck is this guy doing?’ It became an obsession right then because once I committed to doing it, I wanted to be the best. I’d snap a ball whenever and wherever and I couldn’t stop.”
Now, six years later, Rempel is widely considered to be the best in the CFL and his extension with the Bombers provides stability at a position that is unappreciated and overlooked – until there is a breakdown.
The gig requires not only accuracy and consistency, it also sees Rempel needing to bolt upright in his stance in a blocking position or be part of the kick-coverage unit on a punt.
November 4, 2016. Photo: Scott Grant
Rempel’s work in 2016 was critical in Justin Medlock’s record-breaking campaign and his being named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. The two were together at the Art Gallery of Ontario during Grey Cup week and the night Medlock was honoured.
And as meticulous as Medlock is about all aspects of his craft – he is forever sending Rempel clips of long snaps – Rempel is constantly looking to improve, too.
He would film himself long snapping when he first started and then send those videos to others doing the same for feedback. That list included Nick Sundberg (Washington Redskins), long-time San Francisco 49ers snapper Brian Jennings (retired in 2012) and Pat Mannelly, ex of the Chicago Bears.
Justin Medlock and Chad Rempel during the 104th Grey Cup CFL Players Award at AGO in Toronto, ON. Thursday, November 24, 2016. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
“It took a couple of years before I really felt comfortable getting down and throwing the ball back,” said Rempel. “There’s a fraternity for all specialists. Medlock seems to know every kicker and punter in the NFL and CFL… those guys all talk. And now I have group chats with different snappers in the CFL and still talk to a couple of guys in the NFL as well.
“Look, we’re the only ones that really care so much about what we do,” added Rempel with a chuckle.
“The coaches just don’t want us to mess up. It’s just about us and we’re in our own little world.”
Rempel has been able to enjoy living in his ‘own little world’ since taking on the long snapping chores with his career-games played tally now up to 172. He also has a Grey Cup ring from Toronto in 2012 and is driven to add another.
“I had very high hopes for myself coming into the league as a receiver,” said Rempel. “I thought I could be the next Jason Clermont at the time… we actually battled in university.
“But sometimes things have a funny way of working and I couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. I wouldn’t change a thing. I had the opportunity to win a Grey Cup and the opportunity to go to an NFL training camp with Chicago in 2013. Those things I wouldn’t have been able to do if I had stayed at receiver. I’m fortunate.
“Now the goal is to bring a Grey Cup to Winnipeg. At this point in my career, honestly, the only motivation I have is to win a Grey Cup. And I wouldn’t be playing at this age if I didn’t think we could do that.”
