No hard feelings for Taylor

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This article was published 26/10/2023 (717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — Nick Taylor had no desire to leave Winnipeg.

So, when the 35-year-old defensive back didn’t receive a contract offer from the Blue Bombers in the offseason, you can imagine how he felt.

The Miami native won back-to-back Grey Cups with the blue and gold in 2019-21 but finished last season on the sidelines after tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 14.

The veteran went unsigned until the Calgary Stampeders picked him up in late April.

“I took it as a slight. I understood the business side of it, but I just knew who I was and what I had done for that team. I wanted another chance just to prove it, but you know, that’s how the business goes sometimes,” Taylor said after Thursday’s walkthrough at McMahon Stadium. The Stampeders (6-11) host the Bombers (13-4) Friday night to close out the regular season.

“You go younger, you go cheaper, you go with other talent and what not to decide what you think is best for your team. I had to live with that and that’s fine with me.”

Hard feelings? Not a chance.

Taylor missed the first seven weeks of the 2023 campaign but still made the trip to Winnipeg on July 7 to watch the Bombers prevail 24-11 over the Stampeders. After the final whistle, Taylor was welcomed to the Bombers locker room to visit with former teammates.

The 5-9, 181-pounder played for Ottawa and Edmonton before landing with the Bombers in Aug. 2019.

“Winnipeg was the best thing that ever happened to my career. When I went there, I was battling in this league to just be consistent and do things the right way,” said Taylor, who played NCAA basketball at Florida International University and used his athleticism to score a tryout with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings in 2012.

“As a professional, it changed my whole life in terms of getting in early, putting in work, taking care of my body, learning the game. I didn’t learn the game before, I was just out there playing on natural God-given talent, using my speed, being the fastest guy… If I got there earlier in my career, who knows what would’ve happened later on, but it was the best thing that ever happened.”

An Achilles tendon injury at any age, let alone your mid-30s, can signal the end of a career on the gridiron. Taylor worked his tail off to return to 100 per cent — he was playing basketball fourth months into his recovery — and it’s showing on the field as he has 25 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble in 10 games.

“I have a lot left in the tank. What I do after (the season), I’m not sure yet. I got a family now and bigger things that I’m looking forward to doing. I could probably play until I’m 40 easily if I wanted to,” said Taylor.

Stampeders linebacker Micah Awe is crossing his fingers that Taylor does play that long.

Awe, who signed a two-year deal with the Bombers in Feb. 2020 but never played a down for the club as he was released after the cancelled season, is Calgary’s nominee for the Most Outstanding Defensive Player award. The 29-year-old is six defensive tackles away from breaking Alex Singleton’s franchise record of 123 takedowns set in 2017 and duplicated in 2018. With Friday’s contest having no impact on the standings, it’s unlikely Awe will get enough snaps to supplant Singleton.

“(Taylor’s) basically a coach already because he wants the best out of us. He comes up to me and is like ‘Hey Micah, I got the back end, you just play and do your thing,’” said Awe.

“I really do feel he makes a huge difference. And coming from Winnipeg, he understands that culture as well, and culture is a huge part of winning… Everyone here in this organization knows how powerful a guy like that is on our team.”

Taylor is hoping he’ll return to Winnipeg on Nov. 11 when the Bombers host the West Final at IG Field. For that to happen, the Stamps need to go into BC Place next Saturday and knock off the 12-6 B.C. Lions in the West Semi-Final.

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If Calgary loses Friday, they’ll be the first team to make the playoffs in the West with six wins or less in an 18-game season since Edmonton in 1999.

“It’d be the icing on the cake for me personally. I mean, that’d be a big day to go to Winnipeg and play if the results go my way,” said Taylor.

“That’s looking further down the road, but that would definitely be a major thing for me.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @taylorallen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.