Former Tiger-Cat Kalinic making most of opportunity with NFL’s Colts

Like many young athletes growing up in the Greater Toronto Area, Nikola Kalinic dreamed of playing sports at the highest level.

Fast forward to 2022 where Kalinic achieved his dream as he pulled on the iconic blue and white team colours and stepped out in front of thousands of fans. However, he wasn't suiting up for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, but rather as a tight end for the National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts.

Despite his 6-foot-5, 255-pound frame, football wasn't a sport that Kalinic grew up playing. Rather, he competed in volleyball, basketball, soccer and tennis – until he took to the football field in his later high school years at Silverthorn Collegiate Institute nestled in Etobicoke’s Markland Wood west end neighbourhood.

"I wanted to play [football] in Grade 9, but I was playing volleyball at the time – competitively," the 25-year-old Kalinic told TSN. "The volleyball coach at my high school – Silverthorn – he was saying, like, 'Oh, you can't play football,' because at the time you could only play one sport for each season, and that collided with volleyball."

"I was good at volleyball," Kalinic said. "So I was like, Okay, let's go play volleyball."

Kalinic played volleyball for his Grade 9 and his Grade 10 season. That changed the following year.

"When I got to Grade 11, I kind of told him I was like, 'I want to play football.' If he tried to tell me to play volleyball, I'm not going to play volleyball, and then I'm not going to play football either."

Kalinic still visits his former high school and jokes with his former volleyball coach, who says if he had let Kalinic play football, maybe he would have developed earlier. 

Kalinic played collegiately close to home at York University, spending four seasons with the York Lions from 2015-18. In Kalinic's rookie 2015 season, he appeared in all eight games and finished tied for third on the team in receptions (11) and fifth in receiving yards (109). In 2016, he found the end zone twice and finished with six catches for 104 yards.

"In third year, that was kind of when things changed for me," Kalinic said. "(In) my first couple years, I wasn't committed to the process. Everyone talks about the process, and I feel like some people get lost in what the process actually is. So I didn't really understand what the process was my first couple of years. I thought I was big enough, good enough. I didn't have to go to the gym to work out. I didn't have to run in the off-season to get better."

"My third year was when I really kind of got down in the off-season. We worked out really hard and I had a great partner in the gym and we pushed each other to compete."

Kalinic's final two seasons at York were highlighted by numerous accolades as he earned a trio of Ontario University Athletics honours.

The first came in 2017, his third year at York. Kalinic started all eight games at tight end for the Lions, recording seven catches for 58 yards. He also had five tackles. Kalinic was named an OUA Second-Team All-Star and won the team’s Andre Durie Special Teams MVP Award.

In his 2018 fourth year, Kalinic was twice named an OUA First-Team All-Star team for his play on special teams and his native fullback position. He also was the recipient of the Lions’ Frank Cosentino Team MVP Trophy.

"By my fourth year playing university [football], after the first three-four games, I kind of started noticing I was much more physically prepared. Looking back, it was like okay, looking at highlights, like looking at plays throughout the week. It's like you shouldn't really be here. Go play somewhere else or go pick on somebody your own size kind of thing."

So he did.

Kalinic was selected by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with the 10th overall pick in the 2019 Canadian Football League Draft.

"I knew I was going to get drafted in the CFL, I didn't know it was going to be the first pick in the second round," Kalinic said humbly. "That was a great opportunity to go complete in Hamilton and I really couldn't have asked for a better place to be selected and play my first couple years."

The Tiger-Cats put together an incredible 2019 season. Kalinic finished the season with 106 receiving yards and a touchdown that came in just his second-career game, helping Hamilton cruise to a 15-3 regular-season record.

After downing Edmonton 36-13 in the Eastern Final, the Ticats were on their way to the team’s first Grey Cup appearance since 2014. But when they got to the big game, that's when their storybook-like season came to an end at the hands of Zach Collaros and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Blue Bombers defeated the Tiger-Cats 33-12 in the 107th Grey Cup from Calgary's McMahon Stadium to capture their first championship since 1990. They defended their title in 2021 – once play resumed following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic – beating the Tiger-Cats again at Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field 33-25 in overtime.

"I think I was more shocked the first time," said Kalinic of the 2019 loss to the Blue Bombers. "The second time nobody was really expecting us to play in it [the Grey Cup]. But again we didn't finish the way we wanted to."

The first championship loss to the Bombers in his rookie season is something that still stings Kalinic.

"We were rolling. We had a great, amazing team.  A great coaching staff. We were very prepared but things didn't go our way."

Following Hamilton’s second straight Grey Cup loss to Winnipeg, Kalinic was released by the Tiger-Cats to pursue an opportunity in the NFL. Although he had interest from other teams, Kalinic signed a future/reserve contract with the Colts and joined their practice squad.

Now, living some 700 kilometres away from where his professional football career started, Kalinic hasn't forgotten his time with the Tiger-Cats. He looks back at those days fondly and is appreciative of those who guided him on his football journey.

"Being coached by head coach Orlondo Steinauer – he instilled so many terminologies that he would talk about and discipline and the way you have to play football....He [Steinauer] always used to say things to hold that standard of playing football at a high level and competing day in and day out. Even when it's the worst of the worst days…It was always, ‘Let’s find a way to have a great day and find a way to compete and be successful.’”

In Indianapolis, Kalinic found himself in the same position that many of his American teammates were in while he was playing in the CFL. With the Canadian game having one less down and a larger playing field, American players, traditionally, go through an adjustment period and have to change aspects of their game. He was now experiencing this for himself first-hand, lining up against some of the best football players and athletes the globe has to offer.

"There was everything," Kalinic said of the changes he had to make to his game. "When it came down to knowing the rules, I knew football, but I didn't really understand how different the games are." One of the NFL rules that made the biggest difference to Kalinic and his transition was the league’s one-yard off-the-ball rule.

The offensive line and defensive line are separated by a full yard at the line of scrimmage in the CFL. The NFL has no such rule.

"It's contact right away, which I enjoyed, but my feet were in the wrong spot," said Kalinic. He notes that the American game’s more intimate field size and end zone size makes all the difference. The Canadian field of play is 110 yards in length by 65 yards wide, compared to the NFL’s 100 by 53.3 yard field of play. Since 1986, CFL end zones are 20 yards deep while NFL end zones are 10 yards deep.

In addition to nuances of the NFL field, adjusting to his new position as a tight end as opposed to a Canadian fullback has taken some reps to get accustomed to.

"In Canada, I wasn't really used in the pass game in the CFL as much as I was used in the run game," said Kalinic. "I was predominately used in the run game as a fullback-tight end/hybrid kind of player. “But here, you're a tight end and you have to know every pass concept – and there are so many pass concepts other than the ones I knew from playing Madden [EA Sports’ simulation NFL video game]. I knew what a 'sail' route was because of the fact that it's on Madden.

"I'm adjusting and learning different schemes and coverages. Early on in the season, I was still kind of on the fence when it came down to the Colts' playbook. But it's being consistent and working through difficult times and learning, taking everything step by step you know, not trying to rush in too fast. Because if you're rushing through, you know that lasts too long."

All that hard work Kalinic put in on the Colts' practice squad didn't go unnoticed. In Week 10, he made his NFL debut for the Colts against the Las Vegas Raiders. He logged seven snaps on offence and nine on special teams in a 25-20 Colts won.

"I was super excited. That was actually my first time in Las Vegas, ever," Kalinic said of his NFL debut.

“Being told that I was going to be playing, I went home and called my girlfriend and my parents. They were super excited for me. And at that time, it was like that was the next step I had to take and after that first game, and I'm like, 'okay, you can play here.'"

Kalinic went on to appear in seven games for the Colts this season and even returned a kick for 15 yards in Week 17 against the New York Giants. With their season now over and with no playoffs in 2022 for Kalinic and the Colts, he’s already thinking about next season.

"I just want to continue growing as a football player when it comes down to being more physical – like being physically built and faster. I've shown that I'm physical enough and have the will to make contact with people, move people and displace people. But the power needs to increase. (I've) got to continue to get stronger. But other than that, I need to understand the game and let the coverages creep in and knowing the coverages...That'll slow down the game the same way the game slowed down in the CFL after my second year."