Retired Canadian Football League (CFL) running back Mercer Timmis traded his football jersey for a suit and tie just two and a half years after a serious injury forced him into early retirement from the sport.

For Timmis, football was always a family affair. Great-grandfather Brian Timmis managed three Grey Cup wins during his tenure in the sport and was one of the inaugural members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, while Grandfather Brian II played full back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. 
 

“Growing up in a football household, I naturally took a liking to [the sport],” Timmis joked, recalling that he started playing at the age of five. Timmis played throughout his school years and into post-secondary after being recruited by the University of Calgary Dinos football team, where he played four seasons from 2012-2015.
 

“Calgary is such a dominant program, it was a pretty easy decision for me,” Timmis stated when asked about his decision to move out west, away from his home and family in Ontario. “It was such a stacked program and I thought it was my best chance at winning the Vanier [Cup].”
 

Although never winning a national championship during his time with the Dinos, Timmis racked up several accolades during his four years in U SPORTS competition. Timmis was named Canada West MVP in 2013 after breaking the record for rushing touchdowns (18) and total touchdowns (19) in a single season and to this day, still holds the record for most touchdowns in Dinos history. 
 

Out of his varsity career with the Dinos, Timmis was drafted in the second round, 14th overall by his hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2016. He went on to play three seasons with the Ticats before being picked up by the Toronto Argonauts in 2019. 
 

However, during preseason training camp with the Argos, Timmis suffered a severe concussion that abruptly ended his time in the pros and ultimately ended his 20-year-long football career. 
 

“I just knew at that point it was time to move on, unfortunately, but it’s probably one of the best things that happened to me – it has led me to law school.”

After graduating in 2015 from UCalgary’s Haskayne School of Business, Timmis is back in the halls of his alma mater pursuing a degree from the University’s Faculty of Law. Now a few months into his second year, Timmis describes the experience as everything he could ask for.

“The faculty did a really good job, [school] was amazing last year and it was just online,” Timmis commended UCalgary’s Faculty of Law for providing remote learning opportunities during the early stages of the pandemic.
 

Now that in-person classes have resumed, Timmis attributes many of his skills and mental fortitude to his years as a Dinos student-athlete and carries those into his schooling and everyday life.   
 

“Effort, attitude and preparation,” Timmis noted as the three biggest factors to success. “The time management and preparation skills that you get from being a student-athlete are so valuable, and the ability to handle pressure is massive… It honestly shows every day.”
 

Looking ahead to the 56th Vanier Cup set to be hosted by Université Laval in December, Timmis recalled the 2019 edition where the Dinos defeated Montreal 27-13.
 

“That Vanier Cup win was so big… it meant so much to the alumni,” he said. “[The program] holds a special place in my heart. They don’t ever have to rebuild, they’re just reloading and that is a testament to such a good program.”