It was early in Los Angeles when Winston Rose’s cell phone buzzed to life, not long after his contract extension with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers became official.
“Early?! Nah, man,” began the veteran cornerback in a chat with bluebombers.com on Wednesday. “I’m still on Winnipeg time. I’ve still got that bad taste in my mouth. It’s not even a month since the Grey Cup and I’m still dealing with having this feeling.”
That’s been a common sentiment in Bomberland since the championship loss to the Toronto Argonauts last month and especially so with the six pending free agents that have already put their names on new deals alongside Rose in Willie Jefferson, Pat Neufeld, Adam Bighill, Desmond Lawrence and Jake Thomas.
And that rage/frustration isn’t likely to fizzle out over the offseason.
“We’ve been so accustomed to winning so much the last two years,” said Rose. “So, it’s like, ‘Damn, this is what the other side feels like.’ We were that close. Now we just want to run it back with our brothers.”
Rose’s return will help keep the experience quotient high in the Blue Bombers secondary. The club suffered through a series of injuries in their air defence this past season, in addition to playing the first 4 ½ months without safety Brandon Alexander as he recovered from offseason surgery.
Veteran Mercy Maston was lost to an Achilles injury in camp. Ditto for Nick Taylor during the year. As well, Demerio Houston and Malcolm Thompson – the latter since released – both suffered injuries.
Rose has always said he’s his own worst critic and his 2022 season, especially early, caused him to do some serious evaluation of his game. By season’s end he was back to his 2019 form when he led the Canadian Football League in interceptions and was named an All-Star. All told, he started 17 games at corner for the Blue Bombers, plus the Western Final and Grey Cup, and finished second on the team in tackles with 66 while adding three interceptions – including a Pick-6.
“Looking back at the season I started off slow, but I thought I finished strong,” said Rose. “My play at the beginning wasn’t up to my standards. I missed some opportunities where I could have made some plays and had more interceptions, which is a big thing as a defensive back.
“But I did finish with a career-high in tackles and had an interception in the postseason. I thought I finished strong but, ultimately, it wasn’t enough to get the main goal, which is winning the Grey Cup. There were some positives by the end of the year, but I’m not satisfied.”
“Adversity is always going to hit, always going to appear during the season. It’s how you respond to it. So, for me to respond to the way I did after adversity hit was important. I’ll be coming in next year with a new mindset to play better and give my team that chance to be in the best position.”
A veteran of 60 CFL games with Ottawa, B.C. and the Blue Bombers, Rose would have drawn interest had he gone to free agency because of his experience and his resumé. Waiting to test those waters, it turns out, never even crossed his mind.
“We’ve got to finish what we started,” he said. “You hear stories of other guys and how they went to other teams and things play out for them. Some have success and some don’t. Some are miserable and not happy. I didn’t want to test that.
“That extra money you can chase and get with another team might not be great. That’s one thing I’ve learned in this business: don’t always chase the money. Being comfortable where you’re at is important. I just know here in Winnipeg that grass is beautiful.
“We’re going to be hungry,” added Rose, who suffered a broken bone in his foot in the Grey Cup. “I’d like to say I wish we started next week, but I wouldn’t be ready yet. I will be by training camp. We’re all going to be eager to be out there. It’s that bad taste in our mouths. We’re hungry. We’re going to have a chip on our shoulder – I definitely already do.”
