Winnipeg Blue Bombers' quarterback Matt Nichols, top, calls the play during first half CFL football action against the Calgary Stampeders in Calgary, Friday, July 1, 2016.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
It’s too easy – and way too simplistic – to frame this as ‘Matt Nichols’ moment’.
Oh sure, when the veteran quarterback leads the Winnipeg Blue Bombers onto the field at Commonwealth Stadium Thursday night, it will represent a lot of things; A second chance. A tribute to his hard work and perseverance. An opportunity.
But truth is, it’s not just about Thursday for Matt Nichols. Given what it took for him to get here and the obstacles he’s faced along the way and upon his arrival, these are all his moments now.
“I really kind of live in the moment now,” began Nichols after practice Tuesday. “A few years ago I would have maybe been thinking about starting a few years down the line or when I was going to get my chance to be a starter.
“Right now I’m honestly happy each day just to be able to put on the pads and come out here to be with the guys. There’s nothing like game day. There’s nothing like throwing a touchdown and any time I can have that experience or be out there in the huddle with the guys makes me as happy as I can be.
“But it’s about every opportunity I get now, not just game day. I’m excited just to come out here every day. That’s why I have a big smile on my face. I’m enjoying every moment of it.
“The way I look at it, I’ll be 30 in March and I’m still playing a kid’s game.”
If it’s true that a person is shaped by the events and people around them, then it’s worth revisiting the Nichols’ backstory.
He grew up in Weaverville, a northern California burg of about 3,500 founded back in 1850 as a gold-rush town. His grandfather, father, and uncles all worked at the logging mill before it closed down. And when Nichols was a teenager, he helped run the family’s video store before Blockbuster rolled into town and did to their business what Netflix did, in turn, to the video-rental business.
His small-town background meant he wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school, but he did immediately start as a freshman at Eastern Washington and never missed a practice or a game over a 47-game collegiate career that saw him set six Big Sky Conference records.
Undrafted, he signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys in 2010 before coming north to the Edmonton Eskimos that same season.
And it’s there, in the Alberta capital, where Nichols really had his resolve tested. He spent 2011 on the injured list and in 2012, came off the bench in a playoff game only to suffer a horrific dislocated ankle and fractured fibula.
That led to four months of offseason recovery and when camp opened in 2013, Nichols was in a battle with Mike Reilly for the starter’s gig. Nichols got the start in the first preseason game and after a pass glanced off a teammate’s hands to an enemy defender, he attempted to track down the defensive back at the goal line before being crushed with a hit that caused his right knee to collapse under him.
The diagnosis? A torn ACL that would cost him the entire 2013 season. Initially, the knee felt good in recovery but – as those who have experienced the injury can attest – there’s a strict timeline in the recovery.
“They say it’s like your ACL is at 200 percent strength for the first two weeks,” explained Nichols, “and then it dips way down to being like a wet newspaper before it gets back slowly over time. There was a long period where I had to be careful just stepping off curbs and stuff.
“A lot of guys say it, but it really is not knowing what you have until it’s taken away. When you have an injury like that you always have these thoughts… ‘What if it’s not completely normal when it heals?’ I talked about it with my wife Ali all the time when we were going through it. And when I did my ankle, for her it was basically like taking care of a big baby. It was 12 weeks of non-weight bearing. So I was basically sitting on the couch for a couple months. All that… that’s tough.”
There’s more.
Nichols busted his hump to get healthy again and by the time he was 100 percent, there was no doubting the Eskimos had become Reilly’s team. He would get another shot last summer when Reilly was injured in the opener but, despite Edmonton posting a 5-2 record in games he started, Chris Jones and his staff liked the spark rookie James Franklin gave the offence and the versatility of Jordan Lynch.
And so, when the Bombers came calling last September with Drew Willy injured and both Brian Brohm and Robert Marve having struggled in relief, the Esks shipped Nichols here for a seventh-round draft pick.
He won his first start – last year’s Banjo Bowl – and while he went 2-5 here, could very easily have been 3-4 or 4-3 if some kicks had gone through the uprights.
Now, Nichols has said repeatedly since his arrival that this town and this team feels like home and that he’s happier than he’s ever been in his career.
That’s partly due to a change in perspective – he’s a dad now, too, to his daughter Elliot – but it’s also about where he comes from and what he’s been through over the years.
“My family’s always had a lunch-pail attitude,” said Nichols. “It’s always about treating everyone with respect and working hard. There was no money in the family, really. We’re just all hard-working people. I’ve had to work for everything, had to overcome odds. All that has helped me become a better person.”
So naturally, Thursday will be a big moment for the veteran pivot. But again, they’re all big moments now for Nichols. The window is only open for a short time for professional athletes. And if they don’t take some time to soak up what’s happening around them, it can be all over in a flash.
“Around the locker room I’m probably one of the more even-keel guys, not too up, not too down,” Nichols said. “But out on the field I hope the guys can tell I’m excited to be out there and passionate about it.
“This is the game I love. That’s why I just want to leave it all out there on the field and try to help this team win.”
BOMBER REPORT – JULY 26, 2016
DECISIONS, DECISIONS:
Both Taylor Loffler and Brendan Morgan have taken turns working with the No. 1 defence at safety over the last few days and head coach Mike O’Shea said who starts Thursday in Edmonton will be a last minute decision.
“Brendan Morgan is faster, flat-out speed-wise,” said O’Shea. “Taylor seems, with his arm length, that when he’s around the play his range at the point of attack is different because of the physical presence he has.”
The club was also working Gerrard Sheppard, Quincy McDuffie and Thomas Mayo at slot this week. Expect Sheppard to start with McDuffie also seeing action.
BUCK SAYS:
Bombers QB coach Buck Pierce has had to deal with a different dynamic this week, what with Nichols replacing Willy. And he’s got his own experiences he can pass along to both men.
“It’s a long season. I’ve been in Drew’s shoes,” said Pierce. “If you play the quarterback position long enough at this level you go through times like that. Drew’s a pro. He’s had a great week of practice. He’s come in here and been a great leader for us on offence.
“And Matt has seen a lot of football in this league. He’s done a lot of good things in his career. He sees things quickly, he’s an accurate passer and he’s just a pro.”
FYI:
O’Shea was asked if, given the injury to former Bomber Nick Moore – he wrecked his knee in a TD celebration – if he might ask his players to temper their enthusiasm. “No. It was a freak accident. So unfortunate. And Nick was looking great, too.”
O’Shea has been around the game for a long time and there’s a big difference in what a team feels when the QB chores are handed to a vet like Nichols compared to a raw rookie. “It’s just a veteran presence,” said O’Shea. “Certainly (a QB like Nichols) has more command over a huddle, over an offence, over a situation, than any rookie would.”
