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<\/p>\nEDMONTON \u2014 It\u2019s all there right in front of Chris Streveler now \u2014 the chance to reminisce and relive the moments, both good and bad \u2014 as he takes the first steps down memory lane of a professional football career now officially ending.<\/p>\n
And in one moment the 31-year-old quarterback will admit that that span between the day he first scribbled his name on his professional contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers \u2014 May 4, 2018, to be official \u2014 to today, when he made his exit from the game official on his social media channels has rocketed by in an instant.<\/p>\n
Yet he\u2019s also got scars on his knees now to remind him that the eight years passed have come with its share of turbulent times. He\u2019s now married and with a young daughter. He\u2019s got a Grey Cup ring and a National Football League pension after going through the uncertainty that comes with being cut five times.<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s got his fingers in all sorts of endeavours \u2014 no surprise to those who know the man and his all-gas\/no brakes approach to life \u2014 that serve as the evidence he surely won\u2019t sit still now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m diving headfirst into everything,\u201d said Streveler in a chat with bluebombers.com this weekend about his retirement decision from his base in Arizona. \u201cI\u2019m doing so much right now that when I tell people what I\u2019m doing I almost forget to mention that I\u2019m also rehabbing a torn ACL because there are many other things going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. It\u2019s better for me if I stay busy and have things to focus on and put my energy into instead of thinking about what could have been or playing football.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt just feels like the right time,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s getting more and more difficult to move my family to Canada. I own a house down here. I have a one-year older daughter, I have other things that I\u2019m starting to work on outside of football the last couple of years and it just gets to a point where you have to decide where things are going. For me, just speaking candidly, I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a clear path for me to go be a starter in the league and when you tear your ACL two years in a row\u2026 I love playing the game, but I have to put myself in the best position to be able to provide for my family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just gets to the point where it\u2019s not making sense. It\u2019s not a matter of whether I love the game \u2014 I will always love the game and that\u2019s what makes this tough \u2014 but at a certain point I have to make a decision that\u2019s going to be best for my family moving forward. I want to be able to play with my daughter when I\u2019m older. I\u2019ve had injuries. I know that\u2019s a long-winded answer but there\u2019s a lot that goes into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One day Streveler is in Atlanta at the NFL\u2019s Public Speaking Workshop, the next he\u2019s in New York at the NFL sponsored BizWeek. And when we caught up with him on the phone he had just finished a three-hour coaching session with young quarterback prospects and was heading to a friend\u2019s wedding later in the day. He\u2019s also a founding partner in the Going Steady dating app while honing his public speaking skills and his broadcasting chops.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery player processes this transition differently,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were at NFL BizWeek this week and NFL legend and Super Bowl champion Malcolm Jenkins spoke and the way he transitioned out of the league was he had to separate himself from the game for two years just to feel like he still didn\u2019t want to be a part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no right or wrong way to do it, this is just how I\u2019m choosing to embrace it. For me, this process of planting seeds outside of football really started when I got injured with the (New York) Jets. If you remember, I got injured in Week 1 of the preseason and I sat at home for a full year until I signed back in Winnipeg. That was a big realization as to how fast football can end and how scary that can be. Thankfully for me I knew there would be an opportunity for me to come back to the CFL and play in some way shape or form but that\u2019s always going to be the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat lit a fire for me to try to network and put myself out there to see what other opportunities are out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are two chapters in Streveler\u2019s career as a Blue Bomber \u2014 the first as a fresh-faced rookie straight out of the University of South Dakota in 2018 which included the storybook run to the 2019 Grey Cup that ended a championship drought that dated back to 1990.<\/p>\n
Streveler became a legend then, starting three games at the beginning of the season when Matt Nichols was injured and then in November playing through a tibia fracture and severe high-ankle sprain en route to the title. That was then capped by the unbridled joy he showed in the Grey Cup championship parade as he was all decked out in cowboy-hat and fur coat and, after enjoying a few adult beverages, gave his infamous \u2018I\u2019m lit right now, you\u2019re all lit right now \u2014 this is amazing \u2014 I love you guys, man\u201d speech at The Forks.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy whole motivation at the time was I wanted to get back on the field for my teammates,\u201d he said of battling through the pain that November. \u201cI can\u2019t go down without trying. I didn\u2019t even know if was possible to come back from that injury and I wasn\u2019t necessarily given much hope that I could. But I had to try. In my heart I felt like I was letting people down if I didn\u2019t try. To then see the impact of fighting through that adversity and us being able to get it done after 29 years\u2026 I never could have imagined the impact that would have on people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember being down south after that when I was with the Cardinals and I\u2019m getting pictures that Halloween of people dressed up like me. Guys are going to the games with fur coats on. It\u2019s insane to impact people in a positive way through playing a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Streveler left for the NFL after that, signing with the Arizona Cardinals, spending 2020-21 with them before looks from the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins. He earned a shot with the Jets in 2022 and was then hurt in preseason of 2023 before returning to Winnipeg for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
Over the next two years he brought his trademark high-energy approach to the workday back into the clubhouse and helped guide the club to a 5-1 record over 2024-25 in his starts for Zach Collaros. The numbers weren\u2019t always pretty, but the wins came as he often seemingly willed the Blue Bombers to victory.<\/p>\n
And now, he\u2019s officially done.<\/p>\n
Streveler was emotional in a couple of spots in our conversation, as we talked about how 2018 and his arrival doesn\u2019t seem like that long ago. And yet, so much has transpired since then, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo think it\u2019s been eight years is honestly insane,\u201d he said. \u201cI remember me and Woli (Drew Wolitarsky) in the locker room looking at guys like Matt Nichols, Weston Dressler and all those veterans and you\u2019re thinking, \u2018Man, if I could make it to 10 years\u2026\u2019 In my mind I always said if I could play football until I was 30 that would be a great run. So, to be able to get there\u2026 I have no other feelings except for being thankful and grateful for what the game gave me. I\u2019m also proud of what I was able to accomplish and where I was able to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number one thing I love about this game is the bonds it creates, the relationships you make. Those are the most cherished memories and most cherished things I\u2019ll take away.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister sent me a message recently saying how proud she was to get to wear my jersey with my name on the back and that so many people felt so positively about me. To have that impact on people by playing the game and being who I am\u2026. I\u2019m very, very thankful for. I can never even imagine getting to sign autographs for people and them getting to wear my jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Streveler\u2019s legacy with the Blue Bombers is multi-faceted, from the popularity he earned through his linebacker approach to the QB position, to playing through pain in the 2019 run \u2014 and the party afterward \u2014 to his return after the NFL days and the two subsequent knee injuries.<\/p>\n
In many ways, that\u2019s just a snapshot his life story, too \u2014 a guy who had to grind, grind and grind for everything in the game.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy whole journey is riddled with adversity and I\u2019m most proud of never giving up,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a great support system around me and I was given opportunities and took advantage. It gives me pride to share that journey with young athletes because I think guys can feel that passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never a straight path. I had success at the FCS level and thought I had a chance to go to the NFL. I didn\u2019t get a call. So, to be able to have the opportunity to come to Canada and embrace that with open arms and the way that it worked out with Darian Durant retiring (prior to 2018 training camp and his rookie season), Matt Nichols going down at the end of camp and then me getting start my first three games and being able to take advantage of that\u2026 I would say there was some luck involved, but it was about being in the right place at the right time and putting yourself in the right position to take advantage. Luck is only half of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be ready to take advantage with your mindset and the work you put in. That\u2019s what I\u2019m most proud of in my career: I got these opportunities and then I did the most I could to take advantage of that. I don\u2019t look back and say, \u2018Well, I wasn\u2019t working hard enough or I wasn\u2019t prepared.\u2019 Sometimes things just don\u2019t go your way and that\u2019s OK. I can hold my head high that I put everything I had into the process every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always prided myself on being a good teammate,\u201d Streveler added. \u201cI never cared about stats or anything else other than how do my teammates and how do my coaches feel about me. That mattered more than anything. I hope that\u2019s my legacy, that people say, \u2018That guy was a great teammate. That was a great guy in the locker room and he gave great effort.’\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 It\u2019s all there right in front of Chris Streveler now \u2014 the chance to reminisce and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-570996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}