Set to face former team, Chick a solid fit in Hamilton’s ever-changing defence
Since moving to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive end John Chick has found he’s doing much of the same thing, just in a different way.
With 15 tackles and five sacks in seven CFL games, Chick doesn’t have the eye-grabbing statistics he accumulated during six seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. What he has done is adapt to a Hamilton defence that changes its looks more than David Bowie.
“It’s a system that has many parts,” said Chick. “It’s not just ‘you do this and that guy does that’. Everyone is asked to be involved. The team that is facing us can’t say ‘this is what they do.’
“There are a lot of moving parts.”
Chick is still learning how to be one of those moving parts.
“It wasn’t like I walked into what they did here and knew how they did it,” said the 6-foot-4, 253-pound native of Gillette, Wy. “No, absolutely. I have been learning and I’m still learning.
“It’s a very complex system and something I kind of thrive in, because of the way they teach it, the way they go about it. The culture here, it’s been a lot of fun. I feel like I can add my own to it. It gives the ability for you to bring your own to it.”
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Chick has collected 15 tackles and five sacks in his first season as a Tiger-Cat (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)
Orlondo Steinauer, the Tiger-Cats’ defensive coordinator, has been impressed with Chick’s work ethic and football intelligence.
“We are a little bit more multiple probably than he’s been accustom to,” said Steinauer. “We have him drop a little bit. We twist him up a little bit. We do some different things.
“I’ll say this: He’s just been the best professional about it. All he’s done is embrace it, asked more questions, and asked for more details. I can’t say enough about how professional he’s been.”
Chick was credited with a single tackle in the Ticats’ nail-biting 45-38 loss to the BC Lions Saturday night. He usually faced double-teams, which open up space for teammates to make plays.
Lions’ left tackle Jovan Olafioye said the box score doesn’t tell the whole story when measuring Chick’s impact on the field.
“Hamilton is a little different,” said Olafioye. “There are a lot of schemes, a lot of twisters. He’s not just lining up and going, like he did in Saskatchewan.
“They move him around a lot. He’s dropping, he’s doing a whole bunch of stuff. I don’t know if his stats are going to be as good as they were in the past, but they have a good defence. He works in good in that type of system.”
Any person doing the same job, year in and year out, can become stale. Signing with Hamilton presented Chick with both a physical and mental challenge, one he’s tackled with the same enthusiasm he uses to hit a quarterback.
“Statistically, there is a lot of good and a lot of room for improvement,” he said in rating himself. “I guess I’m a guy who always feels he can improve. I don’t care age wise, physically, mentally, spiritually … if you are staying the same, it’s sad. I think there is always room for growth in those areas.”
Chick played his college football at Utah State. In 2006 he attended training camp with the NFL Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent.
“I don’t care age wise, physically, mentally, spiritually … if you are staying the same, it’s sad. I think there is always room for growth in those areas.”
John Chick
Chick spent time with the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars before returning to the CFL in 2013 (The Canadian Press)
He joined Saskatchewan in 2007 when Kent Austin was the head coach. He started 13 games as a rookie, earning the club’s nominee for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie Award, and helped the Riders win the Grey Cup. He also spent time with the Indianapolis Colts in 2010, and played 19 career games with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011-12.
Chick was one of the victims of the house cleaning when Chris Jones took over the Roughriders. When Austin, now Hamilton’s head coach, learned Chick was available it took him “within five minutes” to make a call.
Chick had 42 tackles, 11 sacks, an interception, forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in 18 games with Saskatchewan last season. The two-time Grey Cup champion and CFL all-star was also the league’s top defensive player in 2009.
Considering his past with the Riders, there will be something personal for Chick when the Tiger-Cats (3-4) host Saskatchewan (1-6) on Saturday. His release from Regina left some scars.
“It wasn’t a shock,” Chick said, selecting his words carefully. “It was more disappointment. Knowing your history with the team, what you had done there, the culture you had helped change there.
“Knowing football, being around football long enough . . . there was no surprise. I think as a person you always hope things will go a certain way. I prayed things would go a certain way but . . . some guys’ greatest gifts are their unanswered prayers. It didn’t go exactly how I thought it would or should. But it didn’t mean it didn’t go the right way, that it didn’t go the way it was intended for me.”
Chick has watched Riders’ struggles this season with mixed emotions this season.
“I have a bunch of brothers that are still there,” he said.
While he feels for what the team is going through “they did not treat (me) well. They did not do right by” me.
If Chick’s off-season wasn’t eventful enough, he and wife Catherine welcomed their eighth child in December. The family has five boys and three girls – including one set of twins – with the oldest being 10 years old.
After a hard day of practice, returning home to a full house can present its own challenges.
“It doesn’t mean I’m not tired and it doesn’t mean the second they go to bed it’s like ‘oh my goodness,’” Chick laughed. “It’s wearing.
“You find there is more sense of duty. They give you energy.”
