Apodaca sees wide-open CFL as good fit for his strong arm
Ex-UNM QB signs with Winnipeg
The Canadian Football League, with its wider field and its three downs (not four) to make 10 yards and move the chains, features a wide-open style of offensive football.
Austin Apodaca, with his powerful arm and gunslinger mentality, believes the CFL is a near-perfect fit for his talents — underutilized by virtually anyone’s estimation in his two seasons as a quarterback at the University of New Mexico.
“A lot of (CFL quarterbacks) have really strong arms,” Apodaca, who has signed a contract with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, said this week in a phone interview. “You have to make wider throws, longer throws, a lot of timing.
“The thing about the CFL that’s cool is I get to play my true game . ... I’m a pocket passer first and foremost, but I like to get out there on the edge and throw on the run and scramble. I feel like that’s one of the most dangerous parts of my game.”
Apodaca won’t say he regrets his decision to come to UNM as a junior college transfer, saying instead that working in the Lobos’ run-heavy, triple-option offense made him a better and more versatile player. But it’s clear enough that UNM’s attack didn’t play to his principal strengths.
As well, there was the limited playing time — sharing the quarterback duties with Lamar Jordan each of those two seasons.
The relative lack of game film available for NFL talent evaluators might well have been why no NFL team drafted him, offered him a free-agent contract or even invited him to a tryout camp — though he performed well at UNM’s Pro Day, at an NFL Regional Combine in Seattle and in a workout for the Denver Broncos.
The NFL’s lack of interest was, of course, disappointing.
“Obviously, the NFL when you’re coming out of college is everyone’s goal,” Apodaca said. “... I was obviously trying for that.”
Amid those efforts, though, Apodaca also worked out for Winnipeg and a couple of other CFL teams. The Blue Bombers were impressed enough to put him on their negotiating list, which gave them exclusive rights to sign him.
Contract terms were not disclosed, but all CFL first-year contracts are for one year with an option for another at the team’s initiative.
As in the NFL, contracts are not guaranteed. Apodaca will face challenges in his attempt to make the Winnipeg roster, which includes three veteran quarterbacks: returning starter Matt Nichols, Dan LeFevour and Dominique Davis.
And Tuesday, along with Apodaca, the Blue Bombers signed rookie QB Malcolm Bell from North Carolina Central University.
Far from worried, Apodaca can’t wait to get started.
“All I know is I have an opportunity to play professional football at a very high level with a great organization,” he said, “so I’m really excited about it.”
The Blue Bombers went 11-7 last season before losing 32-31 to British Columbia in the first round of the CFL playoffs. They open preseason play on June 10 and begin the regular season July 1 at Saskatchewan.
LIBERTY BUCKS: The New Mexico and New Mexico State football teams stand to generate much-needed millions for their respective athletic departments in upcoming years, thanks to lucrative road “guarantee games.”
One gravy train the Lobos and Aggies didn’t board, though, is that of Liberty University.
Yes, UNM and NMSU have future games scheduled against Liberty. But those are of the home-and-home variety, with no financial windfall attached.
Monday, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported that Liberty will pay Old Dominion a $1.32 million guarantee to play the Flames in their 2018 home opener.
In football terms, Liberty will not be mistaken for Arizona State, Texas A&M or Arkansas — schools that will pay UNM and NMSU a reported $3.15 million for games this fall. But Liberty, an evangelical Christian school founded by the late Jerry Falwell, is not hurting for cash.
Athletic director Ian McCaw, hired at Liberty in November after a turbulent four-year tenure at Baylor, said Liberty was having a hard time completing its 2018 schedule because it’s in the process of moving from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Liberty also plans to play as an independent. Those factors prompted the generous payout to ODU.
New Mexico is scheduled to host Liberty in 2018 and play the Flame in Lynchburg, Va., the following year.
Last week, NMSU announced that it will play twice against Liberty, home-and-home, in both 2018 and 2019 — a highly unusual arrangement. The Aggies will become a football independent after this season, their last as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.