Taylor Elgersma is another step closer to his dream of playing professional football, after becoming the first quarterback from a Canadian university to play in the Senior Bowl on Saturday.
“It’s been a wild ride,” the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawk told CTV News. “I’m excited to get back home, get back in a routine and get back to working and training hard.”
The London, Ont.-native is now back in Waterloo and training indoors to prepare for Pro Day in March.
“It’s back to making sure that I get [in the] best shape of my life. I’m still feeling like I’m improving my footwork, improve my tempo, my drops.”
The Senior Bowl is the marquee event for NFL prospects and Elgersma said the support from football fans was apparent when he was in Alabama.
“You notice the culture of the South, which was one thing for me. That was pretty cool. Some of the events we did, the Mardi Gras parade, the way that football is seen down there is just something pretty special.”
Elgersma has been on a showcase tour for football fans in the USA, playing in the College Gridiron Showcase, followed by the Tropical Bowl in Orlando and, finally, the Senior Bowl.
The Golden Hawk quarterback, who is also this year’s Hec Crighton Trophy winner, impressed North American viewers by completing four of seven passes in the game, including a 43-yard pass in the third quarter.
“Obviously, the practice throughout the week is something that’s super important for scouts to evaluate, but you want to showcase that in the big moments you could step up and make a throw. I’m definitely excited that we were able to hit that one.”
Elgersma’s offensive coordinator for the game was Jason Vrabel from the Green Bay Packers, who celebrated the play, but kept the 6′6″ player focused on the task at hand.
“I think the feedback was just, ‘Nice ball, but we’ve got to finish in the end zone,’” Elgersma said. “We got three points on that drive. These are NFL coaches. They have high standards. That’s kind of what the expectation is.”
After completing the long pass, social media posts started popping up about Elgersma. He said he noticed the support but is more focused on improving his game.
“I’m trying to just make sure I’m focused on the right things, but it’s obviously super cool to hear all the support and feel all the support from people across the country.”
While he was staying in Alabama, Elgersma roomed with Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel. An opportunity that gave him a chance to share trade secrets.
“He was an unbelievable guy to room with the entire week,” Elgersma said. “We really helped each other every single night through the playbook stuff. We would sit there, echo our calls back and forth to each other, talk through our reads, talk through our progressions. I think that having a guy that you can be working with through all this stuff, and the big thing for us, was we were just there to support each other. We weren’t viewing each other as competition. We were both cheering on each other and wanted the best for each other.”
The event also required Elgersma to interview with each of the 32 NFL teams. Knowing he’s only played Canadian football his entire university career, Elgersma said it was good opportunity to showcase how he thinks.
“Interviewing is one of the things that I look forward to in the whole draft process because teams get to learn more [about me] as a person and learn how you talk or how you see football, how you understand football,” he explained. “That’s something for me that I really need to showcase to teams is that, just because I haven’t played 11-on-11 football, is that I have the brain, and I have the football IQ to be able to pick up the game fast.”
Elgersma is still a Golden Hawk and hopes to complete his post-secondary education after his first year of professional football.
“That’s one thing in the next month that I’ve got to get into,” he said. “I’m still in three classes right now and I have three saved for hopefully the off season, after my first pro year.”
Despite his limited experience playing American football rules, TSN football analyst Matt Dunigan thinks Elgersma has the size to earn an NFL spot. He said it’s what he does going forward that will determine his chances.
“It’s all going to be up to Taylor. If he gets an opportunity, and I think he will because of his measurables, it may have to be as a free agent. But whatever it is, it’s an opportunity and you seize it,” Dunigan told CTV News. ”All those measurables are one thing, that’ll get your foot in the door. It’s what you do after, what you do when you realize you are number six on the depth chart with an opportunity in a game you’ve never played before.”
Dunigan added: “He’s got to ask himself two questions and that is, ‘Did I outwork my opponent today? And did I get better?’”
The NFL Combine will run from Feb. 27 to March 2. The invited players have not been announced yet, but voting was completed before the Senior Bowl.
While Elgersma doubts he will be chosen, he’ll have the Pro Day in March to impress scouts.
“There’s a small chance and hope that maybe they can make an exception for me. But realistically, the voting has been done. We’ll see if there’s any movement on that front but, the Pro Day, I’ll still get a chance to showcase my athleticism, showcase those tests for teams and also showcase the arm.”
The NFL Draft is set for April 24 to April 26 and the CFL draft is April 29. Elgersma is eligible for both and hopes to hear his name called at the end of April.
“I want to be a professional football player at the end of the day, and that’s kind of my answer that rings true for me. I want to make a living playing football,” he said. “Whether that’s in the NFL, whether that’s in the CFL, whether that’s in both those leagues through my time being a professional, I’m excited for the future.”
