Inside the CFL: Argos’ Arbuckle subs footballs for rocks as David to Goliath Bombers

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on November 14, 2024.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

With Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly breaking his ankle near the end of the third quarter of the Eastern Final, the 111th Grey Cup against Winnipeg will be between David and Goliath.

But I happen to know David, aka Nick Arbuckle, so don’t consign the Good Ship Argonaut to dry dock just yet.

The man who stood tall against the defending champion Alouettes signed with Calgary in 2017 to backup the All-Canadian Bo Levi Mitchell.

The media pays little attention to backup quarterbacks except in Saskatchewan where, according to the late Ron Lancaster, the fans’ favourite was usually the “other guy.”

That wasn’t true in Calgary because very few people knew anything about the other guy.

When you go into the dressing room after a game, to your left are the quarterbacks.

There would be a big media scrum around Mitchell with nobody noticing the slight-of-build fellow sitting next to him, his presence obscured by TV cameras and microphones. When the pack had their fill and moved on, I’d sit down and visit with Nick Arbuckle.

Twenty-four at the time, the unassuming product of Camarillo, Calif. who played his football at Georgia State, would talk about the steep learning curve in Canadian football and how lucky he was to be schooled by Bo Levi Mitchell and head coach Dave Dickenson, a soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback.

It turns out he was a history buff who enjoyed reading and discussing my book, Go Stamps Go.

The only real action he saw the first couple of years was as the short-yardage guy. He became the best third and inches guy in the CFL, arguably the most proficient in all of North American football.

It was no accident.

He studied hours of film to learn the tendencies of opposing defences. It mystified me that he was seldom used in that capacity when he went to other teams.

I believed he would shine as a starter if only given the opportunity. In 2019, Mitchell was hurt after the second game. Arbuckle came in and won four of seven games, keeping his team in contention until the great one’s return. COVID cancelled the 2020 season. Shortly after the New Year in 2021, he was traded to Ottawa.

But a few days later the Redblacks signed veteran starter Matt Nichols who had been cut by Toronto. He had two wins, played well but was replaced by McLeod Bethel-Thompson. The Argos traded him to Edmonton for the negotiating rights to Chad Kelly. He started five times for the Elks, played well, was benched in favour of Tre Ford and landed back in Ottawa where he started most of the season. The team was terrible.

An unsigned free agent when training camps opened, he thought of retiring.

When Chad Kelly was suspended for nine game, the Argos called. Their head coach was Ryan Dinwiddie who had been his quarterback coach in Calgary and who believed in him.

Whenever he returned to Calgary, I looked him up in the visitor’s dressing room. We usually shared a fist bump and a hug. He always had a smile, never lost hope his big day would arrive.

It’s tough to keep your hopes up when you bounce from team to team, even though he did make pretty good money. It is harder on the family, especially the wife who has to be continually setting up a new household in strange cities in a foreign country. But it is a journey that Nick and wife Zakiyyah and their daughter, three-year-old Aaliyah, and year-old daughter Ariyah embraced.

The Arbuckles very much enjoyed living in Ottawa and will likely retire there when Nick’s playing days are over.

This is the Man of the Hour’s seventh year in the league. He is highly intelligent, a student of the game. He knows the Bombers well and has had some success against them.

In 2017, the Calgary Stampeder depth chart had Bo Levi Mitchell as the starting quarterback with Nick Arbuckle No. 2. Tonight, Ti-Cat Mitchell is up for his third Most Outstanding Player Award.

Sunday, his former No. 2 will start the 111th Grey Cup.

It is great to see old friends doing well, although the sobs from McMahon can be heard all over southern Alberta.

I know the smart money will be on the Winnipeg Goliaths, but…

Graham Kelly has covered the CFL for the Medicine Hat News for 52 years. Feedback for this column can be emailed to sports@medicinehatnews.com.