Nwoye’s football stock rising at UBC

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

It was the loneliest of Saturdays. Charles Nwoye was hoping to return from injury to play in front of family and friends in a Hardy Cup rematch, but the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds coaching staff thought it would be best to rest Nwoye’s elbow one more week, leaving him at home alone to watch one of the most unlikely comebacks in Canadian football history unfold on TV.
The Thunderbirds led 28-21 entering the fourth quarter against the host University Calgary Dinos at McMahon Stadium. The final 15 minutes were bedlam and saw the lead change four times, capped off by a 59-yard record-setting field goal by Dinos kicker Niko DiFonte.
“I didn’t think they had a chance. We took the lead with 16 seconds left and their kicker already missed two field goals from inside 40,” recalled Nwoye.
Nwoye, a Strathmore product, could only watch as the kick trickled over the uprights, ending his third season with the T-Birds.
“I thought the game was over,” he said. “Then a minute later, it was like, well there goes the season.”
Feeling helpless, Nwoye was sitting on his couch in his school gear, nursing an elbow injury that had sidelined him for the second straight week, as the Thunderbirds fell 44-43.
The injury, combined with the mind-bending kick, provided a chilling end for the second-straight year – both at the hands of the Dinos – for the Nigerian-born Nwoye. It was just the latest instalment in the wildly new career for Nwoye.
Three years ago, he had never strapped on football pads. Spotted at a track meet, he wound up at UBC. In his first year with the football program, he was on the sidelines for the 51st Vanier Cup, one in which the Thunderbirds shaved the Université de Montréal Carabins 26-23 at Telus Stadium.
In his second year in Vancouver, Nwoye saw more action, albeit slightly.
Now, Nwoye was six inches away from returning to the field in the Mitchell Bowl and continuing on what was a strong showing by the third-year defensive lineman.
“He’s made tremendous strides since he showed up here,” said Thunderbirds Defensive Coordinator Pat Tracey. “He was always very athletic, but where he’s made the strides have been in learning and understanding the game and its concepts; his tremendous maturity and his ability to keep absorbing the information we provide for him on and off the field.”
This year, Nwoye played the role of lights-out relief pitcher. He entered games when the starters needed a breather, blasting gassed offensive line units with the type of athleticism that is rarely seen in Canadian football, let alone in backup players.
He also started four games this season. He was slotted in against teams where he wouldn’t only succeed, he would feast.
“The coaches gave me more chances to go out there and compete this year. The most memorable moment for me came in Week 9 when I sacked Noah Picton of the Regina Rams,” said Nwoye.
Picton won the Hec Crighton Trophy in 2016 for being named outstanding player in Canadian university football. Sacking one of the top players in the country is a direct result of Nwoye’s ability to read plays and his athletic prowess.
“He’s a really solid pass-rusher. When we put him up against some of the top offensive lineman, he dominates that matchup and allows our other linebackers to attack the backfield,” said Tracey. “When we lined him up on the edge, his speed and strength turned him into an excellent pass-rusher. He’s really like a tight end playing defensive end; he runs faster than most guys, which allows him to play a great contain role for us.”
Nwoye’s natural size turns him into a handful for most offensive line units.
Standing at 6-foot-3, tipping the scales at 255 pounds, Nwoye can get off the line like a gazelle. He is swift on his feet; as a former track star, his ability to burst off the line catches other offensive linemen by surprise. And there isn’t a guard in the Canada West conference that he can’t handle, as he benches 385 pounds.
The pieces are beginning to come together in what could be a fruitful pro career.
“We found a real diamond in the rough when he showed up,” said Tracey. “We have had a lot of players come through here and go pro, he certainly has the capability to do the same.”
Nwoye’s relentless work ethic turned him into an elite pass-rusher. It’s that same work ethic that led him to graduate Holy Cross Collegiate as a 16-year-old and he immediately started taking classes at the University of Lethbridge, working towards a degree in economics. Vancouver isn’t the cheapest city to live in either, so to help make things financially easier on himself, Nwoye works nights as a bouncer at the Granville Room, usually getting off work around 3 a.m.
The thought of going pro has surprisingly been in the back of Nwoye’s mind since he tied his first pair of football cleats.
“I remember talking to David Onyemata about my story. It turned out he has a very similar story as mine. Both born in Nigeria, attended a Canadian university and both play on the defensive line,” said Nwoye.
The reason Nwoye’s ears perked up when the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder spoke was because these days, Onyemata is a backup defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. The Saints selected Onyemata in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
“It just showed me that not having a background in the sport didn’t matter,” said Nwoye. “He and I have the one thing you can’t teach and that is size. As long as I keep working, I have a chance.”
The numbers are coming along. This season, Nwoye nearly doubled his tackle total from last year. Playing in eight games, he recorded four solo tackles, six assisted tackles and two sacks equaling a loss of nine yards for the unlucky ball carrier.
The biggest problem that faced Nwoye was the stacked depth chart sitting in front of him. He had to battle for reps in games and in practices against some of the top defensive lineman in the nation, including Stavros Katsantonis, who was named Canada West’s Outstanding Defensive Player, and Connor Griffiths, who was named to the Canada West All-Star team.
“We still have some very solid linemen returning this year. It’s going to be an important spring and summer for him. His maturity, new-found confidence and work ethic should separate him a bit,” said Tracey. “Then we will see what kind of season he has and what the future holds.”
DiFonte’s winning kick still stings and will be used as motivation to get better in the off-season. That, and the potential pro contract in the spring of 2019, act as the light at the end of the tunnel for the Strathmore kid.
Nwoye is elgible for the CFL Draft next season and has two more seasons remaining at UBC.
“If I train hard and show the scouts that I have potential, then you never know what could happen,” he said. “I’m thankful for the advice David has provided over the years. He’s living my dream out right now; hopefully I can join him on the field one day.”