“I’m always going to support my team. I’ll always support these guys, too, no matter what happens.”

It’s only been three days of Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie camp and so there’s a danger in making a premature evaluation of any prospect before they start lining up opposite the men who have earned regular paycheques in the business.

That starts Sunday when main training camps open across the Canadian Football League.

Still, the early reviews are in for receiver Jeremy Murphy, selected in the third round, 26^th overall, in last week’s CFL Draft and they’re all positive.

“He’s slick, smooth, smart and obviously checks the boxes athletically,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea of the Concordia University product. “Knows how to run routes, had a high point catch today over top of a DB in the end zone. He’s showing the stuff that he shown in university.

“He’s coming here as advertised.”

A U Sports First-Team All Canadian with the Stingers in 2022 and the U Sports Rookie of the Year in 2019, Murphy suffered a torn hamstring in 2021 before bouncing back magnificently last year.

The year away forced some perspective on him and he’s a mature 23-year-old now trying to make the transition from college athlete to professional.

“The first thing you notice? It’s the speed,” he said of his first impressions of being a pro. “Everything is faster, not only on the field but in the classroom and when you’re learning the playbook… everything is just so much faster. They’re throwing a bunch of information at you, and you’ve got to process it.”

Murphy is accustomed to digesting and processing information quickly. A note from the folks at Concordia, that provides some depth to that: he’s apparently a killer at world capitals and world flag trivia.

“They told you that, eh?” he said with a grin. “I used to play a game with my mom where she’d show me a flag and I’d have to guess what country it was.

“Out here, you’ve got spend time in your playbook. If you come out here and you don’t know what you’re doing you’re not going to get the opportunity to play. Simple as that. If you’re running around like a chicken with no head, you’re not going to be on the field. You get told. For now, it was rookie camp and they’re probably a little nicer. But I’m assuming once we get into main camp and into the preseason, I imagine they’ll be harsher and harsher if you make mistakes like that.”

Murphy said he liked his first and third days of rookie camp, with the Thursday session ‘a bit slower.’ What he’s learned over his playing career, and it’s already served him well in this camp, is to manage expectations and not beat yourself up after a miscue.

“My coach back in college had this analogy: when Tiger had a bad shot on the course, he’d take two minutes – maybe swear at himself, break a club if he had to – but after that he’d forget about it,” Murphy explained. “It’s kind of like that for me. For about 15 seconds I’m saying to myself, ‘I know I need to this, this and this. You messed up on that, that, and that’ and then it’s done. It’s over. You’ve got to move on.”

Murphy will be working to land a roster spot behind incumbent Canadian starters Nic Demski and Drew Wolitarsky, emerging talent Brendan O’Leary-Orange and Michael O’Shea, Jr.

His draft week said a lot about the St. Bruno, Que. product. He spent draft night at home with his mom and brother, following the proceedings as the night unfolded.

“And when I got the call (from Coach O’Shea) it was like, ‘OK, let’s do this.’ We’re quiet people and we do things quietly,” he said. “There were so many emotions that just hit you suddenly. I was obviously thinking about it beforehand, what would happen and how I would react, but you really can’t predict that until it happens. Then it hits you in the face and it’s, ‘You did it, dude. Now it’s time to go work.’

“I had tears of joy; I couldn’t stop smiling and I couldn’t get to sleep that night. I was up until about 2 a.m. because there’s all these good emotions overwhelming you and then some stress, too.”

The next day, it’s worth noting, Murphy was at Concordia’s spring camp to help the next wave of Stingers receivers.

“I was just there to help and support my guys,” he said. “I’m always going to support my team. I’ll always support these guys, too, no matter what happens.”