When Kyle Hergel walks onto the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Saturday, it won’t just mark the start of his NFL career. It will represent the first time he’s ever attended a National Football League game.
“I’ve never been to an NFL game before,” the undrafted Canadian offensive lineman told reporters. “This is my first one, I’ve got pretty good seats for it.”
Several family members are making the trip down from Toronto to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 of the preseason. It certainly won’t be the family’s first professional football game as Hergel grew up a fan of the Toronto Argonauts and often attended CFL contests as a kid.
While more and more young Canadians have gravitated toward the NFL in recent years, the six-foot-two, 315-pound blocker insists he was a much bigger fan of the three-down league.
“Yeah, (I was a bigger CFL fan) because honestly, it’s right there. I had two teams within 40 minutes of me, my hometown of Toronto and then the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were about 20 minutes down the road too,” Hergel explained. “I grew up going to games in the CFL, but I’ve never been to an NFL game.”
The 24-year-old has done pretty well for himself in the four-down game regardless of his preference, transferring to Boston College for his final collegiate season in 2023 where he started at left guard and was named All-Atlantic Coast conference honourable mention. He spent the two previous seasons at Texas State where he was named All-Sun Belt honourable mention in 2021 and third-team All-Sun Belt in 2022.
Hergel started his collegiate career as a partial scholarship player at North Dakota, where he was named the FCS Independent Newcomer of the Year in 2019 after redshirting the previous season. In 54 career starts across all three levels of NCAA competition, he allowed just five sacks and 32 pressures on 1,774 pass-blocking snaps.
That wasn’t enough to get the outstanding Canadian blocker selected in the 2024 NFL Draft but New Orleans signed him to a three-year contract after the fact worth $2.84 million USD, including $30,000 guaranteed. That is a significant investment in an undrafted player but it didn’t stop a team in his favourite league from taking a shot on him, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders acquired Hergel’s rights with the third overall pick in the 2024 CFL Draft.
“It was pretty cool,” he said about being selected. “I’m focused 100 percent solely on this mission but it’s always nice to be recognized in the Canadian league, especially watching it as much as I did growing up. It’s cool. (The Riders) are doing really well this year, so shout out to those guys.”
Unfortunately for Rider Nation, it could be a long wait before Hergel ever returns to his home and native land. The youngster has impressed in the early stages of training camp and is already listed as a second-team guard. A strong preseason showing could give him a chance to push veteran Lucas Patrick for first-team reps.
“I just show up every day and do what I’m told,” Hergel said, downplaying his rise up the depth chart. “I’m just ready whenever my number has been called and just trying to progress, get these coaches to trust me, and keep elevating. Listening to the older guys in the room, which has helped me a ton.”
The Saints kick off against the Cardinals at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, August 10.
