Walking on to Greatness
Since age eight, Trey Rimmer has had a dream of playing professional football. There were a lot of steps between elementary school and the NFL, but Rimmer was willing to fight through all of them, one step at a time. He truly began the process in high school from varsity team to a college team, he knew he would have to put a lot of work in. Rimmer, an Outside Linebacker, was attracting college recruits and saw his dream coming true. Finishing up his time in high school, Rimmer accepted a football offer from Ohio Mid-Western College, a small private Christian school with less than 200 students. Rimmer became a Ram and played football for the college during his freshman year of college.
“Some of the people there and I just didn’t gel well together,” says Rimmer. For his sophomore year of college, he decided to transfer to a college closer to home, not giving up his dream of the NFL, but putting it aside for just a little bit longer. When Rimmer got to Central Michigan University, he reached out to a member of his church that was employed there to seek mentoring and advice. At the time, Demond Pryor was in charge of the Student Activity Center on CMU’s campus. Pryor observed and encouraged Rimmer as he worked out in the SAC every day with the hopes of making the football team at his new school. Going from an NCCAA school of under 200 students to an NCAA college with an enrollment of almost 27 thousand students and a division one football team was going to be a challenge. For three years, Rimmer worked himself out to the same level as the team.
“Even though he wasn’t on the team,” says Pryor, “he was doing the things that the team was doing, from a practice perspective”. For three long years, Rimmer ran, lifted weights, practiced foot-work, and networked with as many people involved in the football team as possible. Members of the football team at the time often encouraged Rimmer to try out for the team when they saw him working out, and eventually, he did. When coach Dan Enos left the CMU football program and coach John Bonamego stepped in, Rimmer saw his opportunity open up in front of him and took his shot. As a fourth year college student, Rimmer earned a spot on a division one college football team, without playing the sport competitively for close to three years.
“Some of the people there and I just didn’t gel well together,” says Rimmer. For his sophomore year of college, he decided to transfer to a college closer to home, not giving up his dream of the NFL, but putting it aside for just a little bit longer. When Rimmer got to Central Michigan University, he reached out to a member of his church that was employed there to seek mentoring and advice. At the time, Demond Pryor was in charge of the Student Activity Center on CMU’s campus. Pryor observed and encouraged Rimmer as he worked out in the SAC every day with the hopes of making the football team at his new school. Going from an NCCAA school of under 200 students to an NCAA college with an enrollment of almost 27 thousand students and a division one football team was going to be a challenge. For three years, Rimmer worked himself out to the same level as the team.
“Even though he wasn’t on the team,” says Pryor, “he was doing the things that the team was doing, from a practice perspective”. For three long years, Rimmer ran, lifted weights, practiced foot-work, and networked with as many people involved in the football team as possible. Members of the football team at the time often encouraged Rimmer to try out for the team when they saw him working out, and eventually, he did. When coach Dan Enos left the CMU football program and coach John Bonamego stepped in, Rimmer saw his opportunity open up in front of him and took his shot. As a fourth year college student, Rimmer earned a spot on a division one college football team, without playing the sport competitively for close to three years.
Rimmer’s success at CMU started a fire in him that will burn for a long time. One year after Rimmer’s comeback to the sport, he brought back his dream of professional football. Playing in the NFL was more possible now than at any other time in Rimmer’s life and he was diving in headfirst. At the end of the 2015-16 football season, the team held a Pro Day, like they do every year, where professional coaches come and run drills for the seniors with hopes to go professional. Rimmer took advantage of this day and showed the coaches what he could do, what he learned to do all by himself.
With one year left of school, Rimmer has begun to make a network in the professional world. Rimmer started with the Canadian Football League, talking to coaches and recruiters from multiple teams and traveling to take place in CFL Combines. Rimmer hopes to continue attending CFL Combines throughout the summer and catch the eye of a professional team that could use his strength, endurance, leadership, and mostly, his determination. Pryor, Rimmer’s mentor, believes in his dreams wholeheartedly.
“The most important thing is going to be finding an agent,” says Pryor. “ He needs to focus in on the football piece and he needs someone to focus in on the business side for him.” Currently, Rimmer is working both aspects, but juggling a lot of things at one time has never been a weakness of his, and now he is closer to his dream than ever.
Information on the Canadian Football League (CFL):
With one year left of school, Rimmer has begun to make a network in the professional world. Rimmer started with the Canadian Football League, talking to coaches and recruiters from multiple teams and traveling to take place in CFL Combines. Rimmer hopes to continue attending CFL Combines throughout the summer and catch the eye of a professional team that could use his strength, endurance, leadership, and mostly, his determination. Pryor, Rimmer’s mentor, believes in his dreams wholeheartedly.
“The most important thing is going to be finding an agent,” says Pryor. “ He needs to focus in on the football piece and he needs someone to focus in on the business side for him.” Currently, Rimmer is working both aspects, but juggling a lot of things at one time has never been a weakness of his, and now he is closer to his dream than ever.
Information on the Canadian Football League (CFL):
- In 1993, the CFL expanded into a franchise in the United States with now six US teams and nine teams in Canada.
- The CFL has a draft similar to the NFL Draft consisting of seven rounds.
- The average CFL player salary is $80,000 dollars, which is $30,000 more than the average American’s income.
- There are currently 16 players in the NFL who started in the CFL, but there have been much more since the league started.
