Professional snow shoveler, former hockey enforcer throwing passes as Senior Bowl quarterback

If Taylor Elgersma had been in Mobile last week, he would have had the rare opportunity to show off his skills as a snow shoveler in the Port City. But Elgersma is in Mobile this week, planning to show off his skills in football at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Elgersma comes to Mobile’s annual all-star game with a trifecta unique in the event’s history – Canadian college quarterback, professional snow shoveler and former hockey player.

For Wilfrid Laurier University in 2024, Elgersma threw for 4,011 yards and 34 touchdowns as the Golden Hawks won all 11 of their games before falling in the 59th Vanier Cup, the U Sports football championship game in Canada.

Elgersma has left behind “overnight snow removal,” a job he had because “it fits in the football schedule,” to pursue his passion for football – the United States version.

“Being a Canadian kid, we don’t have the NIL and that stuff,” Elgersma said on Monday, “so I’m working a job on the side of football, I’m going to class and then I’m also putting in hours and hours and hours at the facility. It excites me that my job is going to be football now instead of having to work, go to class and do full-time football. Just get to focus on the main thing.”

Growing up in Ontario, Elgersma focused hockey. Football didn’t catch his attention until he reached the 10th grade.

“Football wasn’t what I put on every single day. It was hockey,” Elgersma said. “When I flipped over to football, I watched football religiously – NFL, CFL, even college on our off weeks or we end a little bit earlier than they do down here.”

Elgersma said he had an obvious reason to switch sports: “I was better at football than I ever was at hockey.”

But there was more to football’s attraction than that.

“The main thing I would say is in hockey, I got to use my physical abilities,” Elgersma said. “But being a quarterback, it’s 90 percent a cerebral position. It’s all about your processing speed, your brain and also your leadership ability, and so when I transitioned to being a quarterback, I really fell in love with that part of the game. I fell in love with the schematic part of the game. I fell in love with leading the guys in the huddle and having the ball in my hands every single play and being able to make decisions, and so it was pretty easy to fall in love with it.

“Football, I kind of feel, was made for me. It’s my life’s passion. It’s what I’m going to be for the rest of my life. My job is going to be in football. When I’m done playing, I want to coach. I fell in love with it pretty fast.”

Elgersma didn’t leave hockey completely behind him, though. He said he brought along his enforcer persona to football.

“The biggest thing I see in myself is toughness,” Elgersma said. “In hockey, I was a big defenseman. Blocked a lot of shots, hit a lot of guys, got in some fights – that was my role. And so being able to stand in the pocket and take a hit, not be afraid to go for a first down, play with my pads down – you know, I’m a bigger-bodied guy (at 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds). I think that’s what I learned from hockey.

“I think the best players on your team have to be warriors. If your best players aren’t tough and they aren’t passionate and they don’t play with that intensity and edge, I think that can translate to the rest of the team and so I think I lead with that toughness and passion that I got from hockey.”

Elgersma played the Canadian style of football in college, so he’s making more than an adjustment from college to pro. But his Jan. 19 performance at the Tropical Bowl in Orlando, Florida, demonstrated he’s getting a handle on the U.S. form of the game.

Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, said NFL scouts had pushed to get Elgersma to Mobile. When Ohio State quarterback Will Howard decided not to make the quick turnaround from the CFP national championship game to the Senior Bowl, the all-star game had a spot for Elgersma.

“Taylor was throwing the heck out of it down at the Tropical Bowl,” Nagy said on Monday. “Shout out to those guys for finding Taylor. But I’ve got to give credit to Ben (Neill) at QB Country (in Birmingham). He was putting it in my ear about Taylor back in October, so we’ve known about him. It’s not like he just popped on the radar.

“It’s a cool add. I watched him throw out there in the lobby. The ball comes off his hand really tight, and talking with receivers that last couple of days, they say he’s got real juice in his arm.”

Elgersma will join Louisville’s Tyler Shough and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel as the quarterbacks for the National team in Saturday’s game. He knows he has farther to go and more doubts to overcome than the other quarterbacks in Mobile.

“My goal this week is to show an authentic version of myself,” Elgersma said. “I want to show that I can process the game at a high level. I want to show them that I have a super high ceiling that if they commit to developing, that there’s going to be a lot there to excite them.

“Obviously, I want to show off my physical abilities. But I also want to show off my leadership abilities and command the huddle and command the offense and show them that I can run an NFL playbook and run an NFL quarterback room, and so for me it’s not about being perfect, but showing them that I have a high ceiling, that if you put time into me that we’re going to go somewhere special.”

Elgersma’s nationality makes him an especially attractive prospect for the Canadian Football League. But the quarterback has his sights set on the NFL.

“My goal is to shoot for as high as I can go,” Elgersma said. “I’m a believer that God has a plan for me. I just found out I was coming to this game a couple of days ago, and so my whole goal is to continue to showcase myself to the best of my ability, put it in God’s hands and let him take me wherever he wants to take me.

“I’m obviously looking forward to, hopefully, making an impression here and coming and playing down here in the NFL. But I also know there’s a great league in Canada, and so I’m excited to be a professional football player. My goal has always been to be a pro, and this the league I want to do it in, so that’s where my eyes are right now.”