Don’t enjoy your stay
Bombers QB Nichols jokes he doesn’t want rivals to have nice time during CFL week
WINNIPEG — When he heard his teammate Moe Leggett was getting ready to show off the great things Winnipeg has to offer to players from around the league during CFL Week, Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols was taken aback.
He plans to do just the opposite.
“For the players coming in I want to show them the worst Winnipeg has to offer,” Nichols joked in a phone interview from Spokane, Wash.
“I hope they hate coming to Winnipeg always, so that when they get into town they’re in a bad mood and they don’t come out and play as well. I’ll show them the other side so they’ll want to get out of there as quick as they can with a loss.”
Apparently, for Nichols, the ultra-competitiveness extends to the off-season, as does the sense of humour he often displays during media sessions during the regular season.
Perhaps that’s because, with the CFL these days, there barely is an off-season.
Between free-agency announcements, minicamps, the league draft and now CFL Week, there’s rarely any downtime in the league.
That’s a good thing for a league that needs all the promotion it can get. There was a time when the CFL used to simply go away between December and June and it has taken great strides in staying in the public consciousness all year around.
“It’s a great thing for the league, first of all because with the addition of CFL Week there’s not that huge break between free agency and mini-camps at the end of April,” Nichols said. “It’s about keeping the excitement going all off-season and there’s kind of a major event every month.”
Nichols will be one of 53 players converging on Winnipeg for CFL Week, which runs from March 21-25 at the Convention Centre and several other venues around the city.
Five of the league’s six major award winners will be on hand, including most outstanding player Mike Reilly of the Edmonton Eskimos, most outstanding Canadian Andrew Harris of the Bombers, most outstanding defensive player Alex Singleton of the Calgary Stampeders, most outstanding rookie James Wilder, Jr., of the Toronto Argonauts and most outstanding special teams player Roy Finch of the Stamps.
Other members involved from the host Blue Bombers are receivers Darvin Adams, Weston Dressler and Adarius Bowman, Leggett and safety Taylor Loffler.
Other notable names include former Bombers defensive end Jamaal Westerman (Montreal), Argos quarterback Ricky Ray, new Saskatchewan Roughriders pivot Zach Collaros and new Alouettes quarterback Josh Freeman.
The players will be in Winnipeg starting next Wednesday to take part in photo and video shoots with TSN, a couple of media days and a fan fest at the Convention Centre.
“It gives an opportunity for fans to interact with us,” Nichols said.
“There was great fantype stuff in Regina last year. There’s some pretty cool live interviews with fans around which was pretty awesome last year.
“You get to know the other players away from the game. I’ve been around long enough where I’ve almost played with most of the guys that are there at some point but it’s nice to meet all the guys where you don’t have a game the next day and you can just be relaxed and chat and not have your mind focused somewhere else. It’s a cool, different experience and I’m extremely proud to be a part of it.
Even moreso with it in Winnipeg this year with a lot of our fans around.”