Nicholas Dheilly (born October 21, 1997) is a former

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He most recently played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders 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 ...

(CFL). He played

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

at Regina and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and was selected in the fifth round (46th overall) of the

2020 CFL Draft The 2020 CFL Draft took place on April 30, 2020 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS.. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCA ...

by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Early life

Dheilly was born on October 21, 1997, in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

. His brother Dominique also played football. He attended

Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School is a Catholic secondary school located in the Hillsdale neighbourhood of south Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a part of Regina Catholic Schools. Opened February 1, 1976, it replaced the nearby girls' and boys' ...

and helped them win three consecutive Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association 4A championships. He also played for Team Saskatchewan at the Football Canada Cup and was a member of the Canada national junior football team. A highly-recruited prospect, he committed to play

for the

Regina Rams The Regina Rams represent the University of Regina, located in Regina, Saskatchewan in the sport of Canadian football in U Sports. The Rams joined U Sports in 1999 and have competed in the Canada West Conference since then. The program has won ...

after flipping his commitment from the

Saskatchewan Huskies The University of Saskatchewan began in 1907 and has operated teams that compete with others since 1911. The term Huskie Athletics is defined as those student athletes from the University of Saskatchewan that compete in elite interuniversity ...

Amateur career

In his debut for the Rams, Dheilly tied the school's single-game sack record with three. He finished the season with 30 tackles, four sacks and an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, being named the

Canada West Universities Athletic Association Canada West is a regional membership association for universities in Western Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases abo ...

Rookie of the Year. The following season, he earned league all-star honors after posting 26 defensive tackles and 6.5 sacks. Dheilly left the Rams in 2018 for the

Okanagan Sun The Okanagan Sun are a Canadian Junior Football team based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The Sun play in the seven-team B.C. Football Conference, which itself is part of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) and competes annually for the nat ...

of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

(CJFL), recording eight sacks on his way to being named a conference all-star. In 2019, Dheilly returned to U Sports football by committing to the Saskatchewan Huskies, for which he had initially decided to play with in 2016 before changing his mind. In one season there, he tallied 24 defensive tackles, a team-leading 9.5 and six sacks, as well as one interception. He was named a Canada West All-Star for his performance. Despite having two years of eligibility left, Dheilly opted to declare for the

Professional career

Dheilly was selected in the fifth round (46th overall) of the 2020 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers; the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He made the team in 2021 and played in four regular season games, recording one tackle on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He was released on November 1. On November 11, Dheilly was signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and was placed on the suspended list. He appeared in no games for the Roughriders in 2021. He was re-signed after the season on December 14. He made the final roster for 2022. Dheilly appeared in seven games during the 2022 season, posting three total tackles before being sidelined by an injury. He returned and made the team for the 2023 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dheilly, Nicholas 1997 births Living people Canadian football defensive linemen Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan Regina Rams players Saskatchewan Huskies football players Canadian Junior Football League players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players