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Nobody knows better than me how fortunate I am to be here right now with this team and in this moment. It’s truly special.
That’s why as we were running up the tunnel back to the locker room Saturday night after our win in the Western Final, I kept shouting, ‘They dug me out of the grave! They dug me out of the grave!’
The Blue Bombers did dig me out of the grave and maybe that’s why I feel like I’m the Undertaker right now.
Let me fill in some of the blanks here…
My last game before the Western Final was last year with Calgary in the semi-final loss to B.C. and so when the season was over, and I was heading into free agency and really ready for the next phase in my life.
I told my agent, ‘I’m good. I’m ready to be over with it.’ The one thing I did say to him was, ‘If there was a conversation to be had with Winnipeg, I’ll hear them out.’ I wasn’t saying it would be a yes or no that I’d come back. but I’d definitely hear them out if they called.
Why just Winnipeg? I wanted it to be here because this is the organization I trust. I know their intentions. I know everybody in the locker room – the players, to the coaches to the CEO – they’re all about winning.
When I got here in 2019 it changed my whole career about things like how to watch film and how to be a pro. Getting under Jordan Younger and Coach O’Shea and the way he does things made me think, ‘OK, that’s the only organization I’m willing to put my body on the line for again.’ It’s all about doing things the right way.
I’ve been with Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary and it’s just something about how the game is taught here. When I first got here, they were so technical and sound in the way they watched film, breaking it down so that everybody could understand. I came from playing college basketball, not college football, but I did run a 4.2 in testing and so when I first came into the league I was relying on my speed and natural abilities.
I wasn’t coming into the facility early. I wasn’t putting in the extra time. When I got here Anthony Gaitor would pick me up at 5:30 a.m. – I didn’t understand that at all, but then I saw how he took care of his body by being in the hot tub, the cold tub and getting his lift in early and then watching film. It changed my perspective on how to be a pro. Then when I got around JY and Richie Hall and Brandon Alexander and how they broke down film and explained things, well, it truly changed my perspective on the game and made me a better player.
I understood it after the 2022 season when the organization moved on from me. I had hurt my Achilles in the Banjo Bowl that year and at my age — I’m 36 now — that can mean the end. I was hoping to come back to Winnipeg, even if I had to switch positions because we had young guys like Evan Holm and Jamal Parker coming up.
It didn’t happen and I ended up going to Calgary. But I did come back from that injury and I’m proud of that. I know me: I’m a fighter and the injury was never going to derail me. I was back playing basketball after the injury in 4 ½ months.
After last year in Calgary I started working at YouFit Gym, mostly in sales, back home in Miami. It was a good job. I didn’t have to wear a suit and tie and was working out every day and then helping train kids in football on the weekends.
In training camp, BA went down with a little injury and JY reached out about a possibility of coming back. That’s my guy, JY, so I told him I was open to it and I had to talk to my wife. We didn’t end up making it work at that point.
It’s funny about the second time they called not too long ago. About four weeks or so before that I just had this itch to get back on the football field. I had been just running around at the gym getting my workouts in – nothing football related unless I was training kids.
So, one day I went to football field at a local park, and I was there by myself for about 30 minutes doing drills just to see if I still had it with my movements. I just had the itch to do some drills. I recorded it and put it on Instagram and JY saw it. Maybe he saw that, and it put it in his mind, ‘Hmmm, Nick can still do it… maybe if we need him later on.’ It was more about me doing workouts.
Still, I tried to be realistic about this. I think a lot of people in sports are unrealistic with what’s going on with their body – is it in decline? Can they still do it? I was at that field, and I thought, ‘I can still move around’ and so when JY called I told him I could be in game shape in two weeks. I know myself and how to be prepared. If I couldn’t do it, I would have told him no.
Of course, I still had some doubts because I’m leaving my kid and my wife to do this. And Tia, my wife, she’s the real MVP because she’s holding it down right now while I’m chasing the dream again.
But when JY called, he also said, ‘‘I don’t need you to be Superman. I just need you to be who you are and use your communication skills.’ Communicating is my strong point now and there are so many amazing players around me. I’ve got Holmie, I’ve got Deatrick Nichols. I’ve got Redha, who I’ve loved from the get-go when he first got here. I saw the potential in Ford when he got that start at the end of ’23 against B.C. and he was guarding Lucky Whitehead at the time and made some plays. There’s Butter, Tyrell Bonds, and of course, I’ve got BA.
All of this, and being around all these guys again, is why this is so special.
Running out on game day against Sask was amazing because I never thought I’d get the chance to play in front of this crowd again. There’s a group of fans that love me and while we were doing our stretches I left for a moment and went over to the stands to give them high fives and handshakes and show them that I truly care and how happy I was to be back in front of them for one more time.
I have such a different appreciation of things now. A lot of people say once you’re done, you’re going to miss it. I didn’t realize how much I would miss waking up at 6:30 and heading into the facility, how much I would miss laughing with the guys, going into meetings, laughing at the film while you’re correcting things.
There’s a bond that’s built through that. It’s a brotherhood and that’s the hardest thing to be away from. I know one day this will come to an end and so that’s why I’m trying to enjoy this as much as I can.
On Saturday I told a few people on the sidelines — Darren Cameron, Matt Gulakow, Coach Osh – that I never thought I’d get this chance again. That was such a memorable moment for me.
And so to be with the guys again and have another chance for a Grey Cup? It’s incredible.
I’ve got two rings with some of these guys. Then they dug me out of the grave. Now what would make this just perfect is to have this chapter end with another win.
–Nick Taylor