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Bomber fullback Matechuk relishing second chance
'It’s been a wild road, but it’s a great opportunity,' fullback Jordan Matechuk said today. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback Jordan Matechuk will this Friday finally complete his extraordinary journey back to pro football -- a journey that began in an American jail cell last year.
"I was as low as you could (get)," Matechuk reflected today following a light Bombers practice at Canad Inns Stadium.
"I was in prison, I was in jail. There’s no lower than that."
Bombers head coach Tim Burke confirmed at his pre-game news conference this afternoon that Matechuk -- who’s been practicing with the team all season -- will finally see his first game action since his May, 2011 arrest for steroids posession this Friday evening at Canad Inns Stadium against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
And Burke couldn't be happier for Matechuk, whose football career came to a grinding halt last year when he got arrested at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at Sault Ste.Marie, Mich. in possession of steroids and marijuana.
Matechuk -- a 26-year-old native of Yorkton, Sask. -- was en route to training camp with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the time he was arrested and the Ticats released him shortly afterward.
"Obviously, he made a mistake," said Burke. "We all deserve a second chance and I think he’s done everything he could possibly do to be a positive influence in the community.
"And also to be a positive with the team. He’s extremely excited about playing tomorrow and we look for some good things from him on special teams."
Is he ever excited. "It’s been two years since I’ve actually played a football game. It really means a lot to me that the opportunity arose and I’m going to take strides ahead," said Matechuk.
"It’s been a wild road, but it’s a great opportunity. And I'm not going to look back from it..."
In signing Matechuk before the start of the 2012 season, Bombers GM Joe Mack said he felt Matechuk deserved a second chance.
Matechuk was asked if he worried his career was over for good when he got arrested.
"I wasn't thinking too much about football at the time and the spot where I was. But this is definitely a second opportunity and a lot of people don’t get the first opportunity.
"So for me to get the second, I will be playing for those who never even got the (first) opportunity."
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