‘A little bit surreal’: Bombers’ Streveler cherishes moment

Article content

The bruises on his arm have been replaced by tattoos, while a full beard hangs from his face.

Article content

But Chris Streveler, at his core, still has the same mindset he had when he began playing tackle football in Grade 4.

“The Leveler Streveler … that was my nickname,” the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback was saying on Thursday. “I had to start wearing pads on my arms. I just loved contact so much when I was in fourth grade … I had so many bruises because I was just trying to run kids over.”

At one point, Streveler says teachers became so concerned with the look of his arms, the school called his parents to see if maybe the local child protection agency should be notified.

His right arm will be the focus on Friday, as he is a starting quarterback for the first time in five years.

With Zach Collaros out with a chest injury, Streveler will run the show against the Ottawa Redblacks, just the latest twist on a long, winding, up-and-down road for the Illinois product.

Article content

Article content

Told by college coaches he’d have to switch to receiver if he wanted to get anywhere, Streveler instead kept grinding away, outworking most people around him and finding himself in Winnipeg in 2018.

Before he could distinguish the Red from the Assiniboine, he was the Bombers’ opening-day starter in place of an injured Matt Nichols.

A year later, he became Canadian football’s most lethal and celebrated No. 2 quarterback, teaming up with Collaros to end the city’s 28-year Grey Cup drought.

The NFL was intrigued, and for three seasons the quarterback who wasn’t supposed to be one made a living in the top league on the planet, albeit as a journeyman, on and off rosters, in and out of cities.

He never started an NFL game, and for the last year he sat by the phone wondering if the game had been taken away from him.

Article content

That makes Friday a precious moment in a career filled with them.

“Look, making the most of your opportunity is the moral of my story,” Streveler said. “I never thought that I’d be able to go to the NFL or be in the CFL or anything like that. I didn’t truly understand how rare it is to get to start a game as a professional quarterback, because I just did it.

“You learn to appreciate these opportunities.”

Which brings us to how much of an opportunity he gives the Bombers.

At 0-4, this team hasn’t needed a regular-season win this badly in a long time.

Streveler went 4-8 as a starter in his first go-round. In Winnipeg’s Grey Cup run, he made some of the biggest plays of the post-season, often with a combination of legs and heart.

“Those intangibles are still all there in force,” head coach Mike O’Shea said. “The biggest difference is he’s had that many years of growth. His game is more polished but you don’t want him to be polished. You want him to be that rough-and-tumble, same guy he is. He’s got all the skills to win a football game, to run a team.”

Article content

But can he pass his team to victory?

With a depleted receiving corps, the Calgary Stampeders dared him to throw the ball last week, and he nearly pulled it off – until an interception in overtime.

Streveler’s passing has always been the question mark.

O’Shea wanted none of that argument.

“He throws the ball well,” the coach countered. “I’ll just disagree.”

There’s no debating the energy Streveler brings.

Receiver Drew Wolitarsky says it will be a completely different personality running the huddle.

“I always describe Zach as a big uncle, Greek mobster,” Wolitarsky said. “He’s gonna take care of business, but he’s gonna do it quietly. Strev is definitely an extrovert to the max, energy guy, bringing guys up, taking hits, delivering hits.”

Article content

He won’t just be going in for a handful of plays, though, most of them quarterback sneaks.

This game is Streveler’s, the W or L to go under his name. So looking for someone to hit might not always be the best idea.

“If I’m asking those guys to put their body on the line to protect me … why am I any different than that?” Streveler said. “Obviously there’s a time to be smart. But when that time comes to lower your shoulder and put your body on the line, I’m more than willing to do that for my teammates because I know they’re going to do the same thing for me.

“I play the game the way that I play it. And I’m not going to change that no matter what.”

Streveler has certainly fit into the Blue Bombers culture. He had the FIFO mantra (fit in or you-know-what) tattooed on his leg after the Grey Cup win.

Article content

Five years later, the folk hero of that championship parade will pen another chapter of his unique story.

“I’m at a different stage of my career,” he said. “I feel secure in who I am … proud of the things I’ve been able to do in this game and the places I’ve been able to go. So I don’t feel I have to validate myself to anyone outside of this building.

“It is a little bit surreal. But time goes fast. I can’t believe how fast five years have gone.”

Never mind the five years.

The last time this team won a football game feels like an eternity ago, too.

pfriesen@postmedia.com
X: @friesensunmedia

Article content