For Yorkton's own Jordan Matechuk, the CFL season has gone pretty well so far from a personal standpoint. Now he just needs his team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, to string a few wins together.
Matechuk, a Yorkton Regional Raider Gridder alumni, has used the first part of this young CFL season to carve out a niche for himself.
He is now the primary long-snapper and short-snapper on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats special teams unit. This unique skill is one that is especially sought after by CFL team's and will ensure Matechuk a spot in the league for years to come.
"That's really my job, I?look at it now, when I first came into the league they wanted me to play some linebacker and this year they wanted me to play some fullback with the team in that position too,"?Matechuk recalls, "But I really said 'I?just want to focus and be the best and what I can be as a long-snapper and short-snapper,' which will really further my football career because people in that situation are usually around for ten plus years."?
Snapping the ball isn't exactly a new phenomenon for Matechuk.
"I?always did that for every team I played for," he explains.
While lining up under centre is what Matechuk is paid to do, he recounts advice given by YRHS?football Head Coach Roby Sharpe when he was a 250-pound 'tweener' years ago.
A 'tweener', by the way, is someone who isn't big enough to play one position (like offensive line)?but isn't small enough to play another, such as linebacker.
"It really came down to, I'm short... and I'm Canadian, so Rob Sharpe, there in Yorkton, always told me... 'You've got to gain 50 more pounds to get to 300 or lose 50 more pounds to get down to 200 so you can play linebacker when (you) go to the college level and the junior level.' So I decided to lose the weight and play linebacker," he details.
Matechuk's transition from an every-down line-backer/defensive end in college to a 'specialist' has been a interesting one.
Initially, the Yorkton-native played every special teams down for the Ti-Cats. However, once Matechuk began to catch the coaching staff's eye with his snapping abilities, the reps on special teams as a 'wedge-buster' began to decline. Especially considering Matechuk's injury history.
"They always wanted me to start on all the special teams... but the year before,?I?dislocated my finger... on punt return and then I rolled my ankle and tore all the ligaments in my ankles and I?can only run straight so they just kept me on punt (coverage)," Matechuk remembers, "After I got hurt, they just didn't want to mess around in case I went down because everyone only knows the long snapper when he screws up so they don't want me being real banged up at the end of the year."?
While there is some stigma associated with being a special teams 'specialist', Matechuk says he avoids this by competing just as hard in practice as he always has.
"Everybody always tries to make fun of the long snapper. They say how lazy we are," he says,?"I'm in the weight room, I train, I run with the linebackers... A lot of long snappers when they get the job they just let it go, and don't really take care of their bodies but I train as if I'm the starting middle linebacker on the team."?
Still, Matechuk's responsibilities are very different when it comes to game-day. Between constantly warming up on the sidelines and going over situations with the kicker and punter, Matechuk says he often doesn't get a chance to watch the actual game.
"I don't even watch the game, I'll be watching the highlights on TV?and be like 'That happened in the game?!'. I'm pretty focused, that's what you've got to be. The fans are right there and their always yelling stuff at you too, you just got to block everything out," he points out. ?
Matechuk cites this focus as incredibly important to maintaining his perfect error-free snaps streak, dating back to last season.
With his Tiger-Cats sitting at 1-3 and heading to Regina to face the Roughriders this weekend, Matechuk says that the line between success and failure in the pros is very thin. The key for the Tiger-Cats to get back on track is to eliminate the mental mistakes.
"That's what it really comes down to at the pro level, it's whoever makes less mistakes. Every-body's pretty equal when it comes to speed and size and skill," he emphasizes.
Being a member of the Ti-Cats special teams unit, Matechuk has some special insight when it comes to Marcus Thigpen, the ex-Rider who has caught the league by storm with his returner abilities.
"He's probably said about three words since he's been here but he's just a real, positive guy. He's always got a smile on his face, he's so smooth with his runs. He's fearless. A lot of returners in this league, because the field is so big, they try to go more side to side. But he gets the ball and goes straight up (field)," Matechuk observes.
With the season almost a quarter way through, Matechuk's goals for the Tiger-Cats remain the same. To win and achieve that elusive berth in the Eastern Final.
"We're here to win, we get paid to win, not paid to play. That's what our general manager (Bob?O'Billovich)?always says too... Last year we had the home playoff game in the East... It would be nice to sit by in that first bye week and watch the other teams bang each other up before we get to the semi's," he says.
Of course, the ultimate goal is still the Grey Cup.
"The Grey Cup is always there, that's our goal. That's what we all play for."
