Bombers’ new pivot tells an unusual tale

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This article was published 17/09/2015 (3852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE road to the CFL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for Tajh Boyd is a familiar one for American players.

Two failed tryouts in the NFL — first with the New York Jets, and then last month when the Pittsburgh Steelers sent him packing — followed by joining a Canadian team (the Hamilton Tiger-Cats), then a trade (to Winnipeg) for his negotiation rights, and now a practice-roster contract.

But his story isn’t quite as common.

During college, Boyd was on the top of the world. In three seasons as the starting pivot for Clemson University, the native of Hampton, Va., set ACC and school records, throwing for more than 11,000 yards and 107 touchdowns. To make it even sweeter, he capped off his senior year by winning the Orange Bowl, a 40-35 decision over Ohio State in a game he was named MVP and set an Orange Bowl record with 505 total yards — 378 through the air and 127 on the ground — to go with five passing touchdowns and one running score.

Indeed, life was good for the now 24-year-old. So good, Boyd was seen as somewhat of a local hero and a role model for kids who aimed to be just like him. He was recognized wherever he went. In life, he was in the driver’s seat.

“The support that I have there is unbelievable,” Boyd said Wednesday following his first practice with the Blue and Gold. “I literally can go play for Fred Flinstone’s team and people are going to support it, that’s just the kind of people there. People want to see me succeed.”

Life was also easy on the football field. The 6-1, 220 pounder threw touchdowns with ease, and when he wasn’t tossing them into the end zone he was rushing them in himself. When college ended, however, life became a little less clear.

A shot with the Jets, the team that chose him in the sixth round in 2014, ended with him being one of their final cuts. At the NFL level, the game wasn’t so obvious. Playing mostly a read-offence in Clemson, the transition to the best league in the world proved challenging.

“The reads are a little bit different, but there are some aspects that translate over,” he said. “But really it’s just a mentality; understanding that you go out there and you expect to win and you expect to succeed, and everything else follows suit. Because once you change your mentality, you change everything else.”

It’s a lesson Boyd had to learn the hard way. After being released by the Jets, his options looked slim. He knew he wanted to play, and given the chance, he’d prove his doubters wrong.

His next stop: the Boston Brawlers of the Fall Experiment League. If you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone.

Boyd had officially traded in his life of luxury in college; a life where free meals, transportation, and clothes were all just part of the gig. Now, he had to rent his own car, buy his own food and stay in places that didn’t compare to the comforts of a premier American college.

The game was no longer easy, or fun.

“It kind of turned me off, to be honest,” he said. “I had to stay in hotel rooms with bedbugs. I was like ‘bro, this is crazy to me.’

“It was so different. You go to a game and there is like, 25 people in the stands. We were practising at the YMCA, it was rough. I’m only 24, but it felt like I was 47. It was rough.”

It is this part of his past that makes Boyd appreciate his present. Winnipeg not only represents a new path, but new hope as well. He’s grown since college and already he feels at home with his new team. Now, he said, the hard work begins. A new look at football and perhaps more importantly, a new look at life.

“I don’t come in here with high expectations or a big head, because at the end of the day it’s just like you’re a rookie all over again,” he said. “You got to earn your stripes, you’ve got to earn your keep.”

Boyd is now one of six quarterbacks currently inked by the Bombers, and will be in tough to play for the Blue and Gold this season. But he’s eager to show his stuff. He’s even watched documentaries on CFL legends Warren Moon and Doug Flutie to help prepare him for the Canadian game. But unlike college, this new journey is no longer about just being the best.

“It’s bigger than me,” said Boyd. “I do a lot of foundation stuff back home and so many kids look up to me. I can’t preach something to them that I’m not living myself. I do that by going out there and exhausting every option.

“If you don’t go out there and leave it all out there you’re just going to be an old, tired man and you’re just going to look back and wish you’d done something more.

“You can’t be done with football, football has to be done with you. You either get hurt or you’re just not good enough anymore. I’m not either one of those yet, so I’m just coming out here and trying to make the most of it.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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