Just for the record, his birth certificate reads ‘Rashad Bernard Carmichael.’ But for as long as just about anybody who knows the man can remember, he’s always been ‘Roc.’
“I’ve been ‘Roc’ since Day 1,” began the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hopeful during the club’s mini-camp this week. “My Dad nicknamed me Roc. Way back in elementary school I would write ‘Roc’ on all my papers. Just Roc, not even my last name. That’s my name.”
There’s a story behind this, of course. It turns out that when Carmichael was little, his friends and some of his family were referring to him as ‘Ra’ or ‘Ra-Ra.’ And his father, Bernard, believed that made his son sound soft.
Carmichael was far from soft, growing up to star at Viriginia Tech, then being selected in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, before stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals.
Roc Carmichael (35) on day 2 of mini-camp.
Sadly, Carmichael’s father never saw any of this metamorphosis, as he passed away before he had even pulled on a Hokies jersey in college. And it’s here, indirectly, where this connection with the Bombers was born.
Victor ‘Macho’ Harris, who spent last year with the Bombers, was already an established Hokies starter when Carmichael arrived. And when he heard of the passing of his father, a relationship was born that still stands today.
“Macho’s mother had passed away in his senior year of high school and when my dad passed away he took me in immediately,” Carmichael explained. “He said, ‘Come to my house, you can stay here. I’ll help you get through this.’ He took me to class, helped me break down film… whatever I needed, he was there. That’s my guy, right there.”
Carmichael’s last days as a football player in the NFL were in 2015 with the Cards. He stepped away then to deal with some issues about which he didn’t want to elaborate.
“I retired. I had some family problems going on at home that I had to take care of,” said Carmichael. “I just couldn’t be in two places at once and my family is in Washington, D.C.”
Carmichael kept in shape by training and coaching/training young prospects in the area, including his younger brother. But the fire to return to action never dissipated.
“It’s the love for the game. It never stops,” said Carmichael. “It’s what I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember. You never think you would have to stop playing, but I had to make that decision for my family. But I told myself I would take two years to help and then get back to it.”
“It’s fun being out there again. It took me a while to get a feel for the field and the ‘Waggle’, but just being in the locker room, being around the guys and their energy… like I said, that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life and without it, it hurt. I hated watching football. I could watch Virginia Tech games, but I couldn’t watch NFL games. I’d go out and watch little league and high school Friday and all day on Saturday. My love for the game never stopped.
“This is an opportunity for me to get back in the locker room and be playing football again.”
And interestingly, the decision to return coincided with another conversation with Harris that led him north of the border to Manitoba.
“I told (Harris) I think I want to give it another shot,” said Carmichael. “He told me I’d like Winnipeg… the stadium, the facilities, the team… everything.
“This was my first choice. I told my agent, ‘Can we try Winnipeg and at least get a shot with Winnipeg?’ And now I’m here.”
“It’s wild, isn’t it? It was Macho who helped me out almost 10 years ago now and I’m still following in his footsteps today.”
