{"id":72665,"date":"2025-08-15T22:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T22:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/72665\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T22:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T22:45:09","slug":"it-means-a-lot-riders-tommy-nield-grateful-for-cfl-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/72665\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It means a lot:\u2019 Riders\u2019 Tommy Nield grateful for CFL opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Tommy Nield<\/a>, playing in the CFL has been a dream come true.<\/p>\n

The Guelph, Ont. product is in his fifth season as a pro in a league he grew up watching.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I told myself when I was 10 years old I would be playing in the CFL, I don\u2019t know what I would do. I\u2019m very grateful for the position I\u2019m in right now and still being able to play football,\u201d said the 26-year-old pass-catcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there are a lot of people out here that are my age, not playing and wishing that they could. I just take advantage of any opportunity I get and enjoy every day I am out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After spending four seasons with the Toronto Argonauts \u2014 and winning two Grey Cups as a member of the double blue \u2014 Nield is now a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He will start a second straight game on Saturday due to Sam Emilus suffering a knee injury that landed him on the six-game injured list.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Riders take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats<\/a> at Mosaic Stadium. Kickoff for the game is set for 1 p.m. The Green Zone pregame show<\/a> begins at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n

Tommy credits his dad, Patrick, for really helping him get involved with football. Patrick was a standout linebacker with the Guelph Gryphons and was selected in the fifth round of the 1989 CFL Draft by the B.C. Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never felt like it was forced upon me, but I think he\u2019s really happy with how football has gone for me,\u201d Nield said. \u201cHe helped coach some of my younger teams and was always supportive of what I\u2019m doing and just a great person to have and look up to and show you how things are done.:<\/p>\n

But rather than follow in his dad\u2019s footsteps, Nield decided to play football at McMaster with the Marauders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not far from Guelph, but it is a little way from home and just the way my opportunities worked out, it was the best fit for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After four seasons with the Maurauders, Nield was selected in the fourth round (30th overall) by the Argos in the 2021 CFL Draft. As a kid from Ontario, he admits it meant a lot to play for the Argos.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a great experience, having started my CFL career there and playing four years, it did feel like home. I had never lived in Toronto before, but it was easy for family and friends to come out to the games, and I feel like it was a smooth transition going from university to just an hour away; it wasn\u2019t like I was in a whole new place,\u201d Nield said.<\/p>\n

He was a part of the 2022 Argos team that claimed victory in the Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was unbelievable \u2014 my second year in the league and getting to play in a Grey Cup game and seeing what that was like and having it be here too, it\u2019s funny how this is where I am now,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was freezing cold that whole week, but that\u2019s the CFL and those are the games you want to be playing in when it\u2019s cold out.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the opportunity to come to Saskatchewan came up this past offseason, Nield said he was open to the move right from the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice being at home for my first few years, but after playing there for four years, I\u2019m thinking it\u2019s time for a change. I\u2019m open to going wherever and when Sask. reached out to me, I was like, \u2018This is a great fit for me,’\u201d he said. \u201cJust knowing about the CFL myself and knowing how big the Riders are in Saskatchewan, it was a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his first start for the Riders this season, Nield hauled in just two passes for 39 yards, but one of those was a touchdown in a 34-6 win over the Montreal Alouettes.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant the world. I take a lot of pride in what I do every day here and put in a lot of work. So, to know the coaches trust me in putting me in a starting role like that, it means a lot. It means the work is starting to show in what I put into my game,\u201d Nield said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Saskatchewan Roughriders)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Saskatchewan Roughriders)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Tommy Nield, playing in the CFL has been a dream come true. The Guelph, Ont. product is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-72665","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\/72665","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=72665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}