By Vicki Hall
Calgary Herald

For a proud man like Randy Chevrier, four games on the sidelines as a healthy scratch felt like a punch to the gut.

On the outside, the Calgary Stampeders long snapper managed to still smile during his month-long hiatus in the 2012 Canadian Football League season. He stayed on the field long after practice, quietly venting his frustrations by flipping giant truck tires.

Retiring was not an option for the Calgary Stampeders long snapper — at least not a palatable one. But he could sense turbulence ahead.

So Chevrier devised a game plan to give himself the best shot at a 13th season in professional football.

The strategy: to drop 35 pounds and weigh in at 250 pounds for the opening day of training camp with an eye to making a difference in coverage on special teams.

During his exit meeting with Stamps head coach/GM John Hufnagel, Skinny Chevy was born.

“I snap because it’s what I do well, but being that heavy, I wasn’t always the fastest guy down field,” Chevrier says. “When you’re bigger, a 225-pound guy is going to be faster than you regardless, right?

“I said, Huff, ‘I would like to do this, to get to a level 250 pounds to give me a chance to do more for the club.’ And he thought about it for a second and he looked at me, and he said he thought it was a good idea.

“So the challenge was on.”

Like any employee with shaky job security, Chevrier needed to make good on a proposal tabled with the boss. So he adopted an off-season workout regimen fitting of a Rocky movie.

And the results? Well, Chevrier stepped on the scale at home the other day and weighed in at 242 pounds — eight pounds under his goal. He can fit into a large T-shirt for the first time since his freshman year at McGill University.

“I’ve transformed a little,” says Chevrier, who turns 37 during the first week of training camp. “I never thought in a million years that I would cut as much weight as I did to get where I’m at. Everybody has set goals before and somewhere along the way you lose sight of that goal. Look at New Year’s. Everybody sets resolutions but how many people stick to them?

“But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, ‘this is one shot to keep myself relevant to the team, otherwise I end up in the same situation as I was last year.’ ”

Or worse.

With fellow long snapper Tim St. Pierre in the fold, the Stamps are in no way obligated to extend Chevrier’s reign in red and white. But his presence proved invaluable last season when St. Pierre went down with an elbow injury in Week 14.

“I think it was a smart move on Huff’s part last year to keep me,” Chevrier says. “When you lose your starting long snapper and the next guy doesn’t miss a beat and then your kicker has one of the best seasons ever for a Calgary Stampeder and a punter who goes all-star, I think it was a smart move on his part.

“But for me to sit there and say, ‘hey I want to be an insurance policy again?’ . . . If I ever came into camp with that attitude, I would expect to be cut.”

So Chevrier took up mixed martial arts, falling in love with Jiu jitsu. He played beer league ice hockey and Super League ball hockey.

And all of that came on top of his regular running and weightlifting targeted at football.

At the same time, he whacked the sugar from his extra large coffees, cut down on breads and curtailed the pesky habit of snacking after supper.

“I’m going to least control my end of the deal where I’ve done everything in my power,” he says. “I don’t want to sit on the bench and collect a paycheque. If I have an opportunity, I’ll do whatever it takes to get out there on the field.”

Rest assured, the coaching staff has taken notice of Randy Chevrier 2.0.

“Just wait until you see him this year,” says special-teams coordinator Mark Killam. “He’s lost some weight to improve his coverage down field. He has taken the necessary steps to prolong his career.

“With an experienced player like that, you get that veteran savvy.”

For his part, Chevrier realizes veteran savvy is only part of the equation.

“None of this means I’m making the Calgary Stampeders this year,” he says. “I could still get that call that, regardless of how hard I worked “

“I know I can only control a very small part of the equation. I feel satisfied that I maximized what I could do this off-season to give me a chance to be with the Stamps.”