Andrew Nowacki (born October 10, 1980) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

wide receiver. He last played for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was drafted by the Eskimos in the third round of the 2004 CFL Draft. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Murray State Racers The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks (for football, the Football Championship Su ...

College career

Nowacki began his collegiate career at

Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale Community College is a public community college in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is on the eastern boundary of the city on 160 acres (650,000 m2) of land belonging to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The lease was taken out i ...

before transferring after two seasons to

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

. From 2001 to 2003, Nowacki played in 24 games recording 53 receptions for 608 receiving yards. He led the Racers in receiving as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

senior with 43 catches for 477 yards.

Professional career

Nowacki was selected in the third round (26th overall) by the

in the 2004 CFL Draft. As a rookie, Nowacki rarely played only recording one catch for seven yards. Entering 2005, Nowacki's roster spot was in jeopardy before the Eskimos final season against the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He ended up on the team's inactive list to begin the season. He was activated on July 14 after

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Mike Bradley suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury. After making a few appearances, Nowacki suffered a

finger A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...

injury causing him to miss a few games. He was re–activated on September 29. In 2005, Nowacki recorded 18 catches for a total of 151 yards. Following the selection of

Pat Woodcock Patrick Ian Woodcock (born April 27, 1977) is a former Canadian football wide receiver. Woodcock attended American College at Syracuse University between 1997 and 2000 and he attended Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Kanata), Holy Trinity Catho ...

by Edmonton in the

CFL Dispersal Draft The CFL player dispersal draft was held with the disbanding of the Ottawa Renegades franchise in 2006. The draft took place on April 12th and consisted of eight rounds, with Kerry Joseph Kerry Tremaine Joseph (born October 4, 1973) is an American ...

, Nowacki was possibly going to lose his job as the Eskimos fifth receiver. Despite the Woodcock selection, Nowacki recorded 17 catches for 147 yards in 2006. He was re-signed by Edmonton on January 11, 2007. In the Eskimos first preseason game on June 16, 2007, Nowacki recorded four receptions for a total of 46 yards. After a few injuries to the Eskimos receivers to begin the season, Nowacki began to take a bigger role in the offense. On August 13, 2007, in a game against the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

, Nowacki caught his first career

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

pass. On the following possession for Hamilton their receiver

Jason French Jason French (born April 7, 1978) is a former professional Canadian football slotback. He was drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the second round of the 2001 CFL Draft. He played college football for the Murray State Racers. College caree ...

also a Murray State University graduate, caught a touchdown. The two touchdown catches for Nowacki and French came one minute apart. In the game where

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Ricky Ray Ricky Ray (born October 22, 1979) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback. Ray spent the majority of his professional career with the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He also ...

broke

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonto ...

's Eskimos record for most passing yards in Eskimos history, Nowacki caught a five-yard touchdown pass. In 2007, Nowacki had 47 receptions for 465 yards with two touchdowns. In 2008, Nowacki played in every game recording 28 catches for 369 yards with two touchdowns. He started the West Semi-Final and caught three passes for 27 yards.

Personal

He married his girlfriend Erica on February 14, 2009. His sister Renata coaches

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowacki, Andrew 1980 births Living people Canadian football wide receivers Edmonton Elks players Murray State Racers football players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario