'The Jaguars Made Us All Better Players' Says Nottingham Trent WR Toby Rose

Third year wide receiver Toby Rose tells us how being invited to observe the Jacksonville Jaguars training impacted his team...

What do you say when you meet your heroes?

One guy who knows is NTU (Nottingham Trent University) Renegades receiver Toby Rose. The university side won an NFL UK competition last autumn that saw them travel to London to spend a day with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as the NFL side prepared for their Wembley showdown with the Dallas Cowboys in November 2014. After the squad had the opportunity to observe a two-hour training session, five Jags players – Cecil Shorts III, Dakoda Watson, Denard Robinson, Toby Gerhart and Allan Robinson – came over for a meet and greet with their guests.

Apparently, you talk about movies.

“They wanted to know about us as much as we did them,” Toby (left, with Toby Gerhart) enthused. “They wanted to know what was going on with us – they were interested in our kit because of the pink! – and it was just a general conversation. Toby Gerhart was casually talking to me about music and films!”

Jags running back Denard Robinson even took it upon himself to learn NTU’s signature touchdown celebration dance – the ‘Renegade shuffle’ – and performed it after scoring against the Cowboys at the weekend.

“They were really interested in talking about England as well – obviously we’re all interested in America, but they’ve spent a lot of time in London and been around the atmosphere of the International Series, so they were asking about the impact of the NFL on universities? We told them about the growth in our leagues, and they were impressed.”

The meet and greet was followed by a training session led by BritBowl winning coaches from the London Warriors, several of whom boast NFL experience, but unfortunately Toby had suffered a cruciate ligament injury a few weeks earlier. However, he says the experience of getting up close and personal with professional players had a real impact on him and the group.

“It was different class. When you see these people on telly, it doesn’t look that fast when they’re next to each other, but when they’re right in front of you, it’s a different kettle of fish. You can see the speed, the power.

“We brought in a lot of things that we saw them do - there’s now 3 or 4 things especially that they did that we now do in our training sessions. Every player I’ve spoken to has taken something from the experience, and felt that it made them a better player.”

"It was a great experience for me. I learnt so much from the day, especially considering that I had only been playing for a couple of months prior to the day." - Daniele Chiazza, NTU Defensive End

Back on the pitch, NTU certainly appeared to have been inspired by their day in London. Their 7-1 season included five shutouts and three 50+ score margins, most notably a 71-0 over Leicester Longhorns. But Toby, who joined the Renegades when he started at Nottingham Trent in 2013, admits that this was also down to where they ended up in last year’s BUCS league reformat, which saw the old league split into two tiers for 2014/15 to accommodate the regular arrival of universities new on the American football scene. The setup has been re-adjusted to three tiers ahead of the 2015/16 season, with smaller regional divisions of five teams now facing home and away fixtures all round.

“The first year I came, we had a legitimate chance of beating big teams such as Loughborough or Birmingham, but the league’s reshuffles have meant we haven’t had another chance to play those teams. I want the players who are now coming in to have the opportunity to play those teams, because that first season was the most exciting one for me. I’d rather play 8 games and go close every game, and even lose every game, than win every game 71-0.

“I understand the reasoning, but I think it could have been more competitive, and I think this year is going to be much better, because this year there is a high chance of us losing a three or four times. I don’t expect us to, but we’re going to have some real close games this year.

“We’ve got [University of] Nottingham twice with the league reshuffle, which means with varsity and the playoffs we could potentially play them 4 times this year. Every year Nottingham get a bit better and a bit closer to us – they’ve never beaten us yet, but being a crosstown rival that’s the biggest game for both of us. I feel like they’re getting close, and playing them up to 4 times will be tough. Then we’ve got Warwick twice who are a good team who have pushed us close in recent years, Staffordshire who we don’t really know anything about but from what we’ve heard we expect them to also push us close, and Worcester, who we’ve got to watch out for. On their pitch, if it’s a bad day…well, they beat us last year."

Toby continues his recovery from his cruciate ligament injury – he restarted training with the team two weeks ago and hopes to be back playing by January – but as the Renegades’ vice president he has set his sights high for his team in his final year.

“We want to go undefeated through the regular season and post season, and get promoted. That’s the goal. Anything less, I will personally feel gutted.”

NTU Renegades kick off their season at home to Warwick Wolves on Saturday October 31.

All photos courtesy of Dave Tidswell