Ask around – from the vet with grey in his beard to the kid coming straight from college – and it’s clear the first day of Canadian Football League training camp can provide so many different and unique perspectives. It is opportunity for those stepping onto a three-down field as a professional for the first time. And for those with a long list of credentials, camp is a necessary evil until the Winnipeg Blue Bombers first real game on June 9th vs. the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Then there was defensive end Willie Jefferson, who was sporting a grin as wide as IG Field Sunday morning, even after a long session that included the dreaded 300s – a tortuous conditioning/running drill which every position group has to undergo – that left many gasping for air and/or losing their morning breakfast.
“It’s amazing, man, just being able to run around with the guys and talk the same lingo that we had at the end of the season. It’s fun. Just like the first day of school,” Jefferson began. “Just to have the opportunity to come out here and do the 300s. Everybody’s tired and just to see everybody running and trying to compete… it’s fun.
“You get the chance to see your boys and what they’ve been doing – the process, the results of what they’ve been doing over the offseason. It’s not hard, but it’s a little taxing. It’s fun.”
Riffing on the ‘first day of school angle’ CJOB’s Derek Taylor then asked Jefferson if there was a particular player he was most excited to see upon the return of the whole team. Jefferson grinned again and then rattled off names from about half the team.
“Jackson, Yoshi, Stan, Zach, Dalton, Demski, Kenny, ‘Sheed. I was happy to see a lot of guys, especially my guys on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “Rose, Spook, D-Law, Spoon, B.A, Malik… everybody.” (For those tracking at home, that’s Jackson Jeffcoat, Jermarcus Hardrick, Stanley Bryant, Zach Collaros, Dalton Schoen, Nic Demski, Kenny Lawler, Rasheed Bailey, Winston Rose, Deatrick Nichols, Desmond Lawrence, Demerio Houston, Brandon Alexander, Malik Clements).
The Blue Bombers opened camp Sunday, once again as heavy Grey Cup favourites after appearing in the last three championship games – winning in 2019 and 2021 and falling to the Toronto Argonauts by one point in last year’s title match.
That’s something which has been a talking point in Bomberland all offseason but is slowly fading – especially now with the opening of camp that represents everything being so fresh and new.
“It’s way in the back of my mind now, especially after the team meeting we had last night and listening to Coach O’Shea,” Jefferson said. “The first thing he said was, ‘I understand that last game was fuel for our offseason. But it’s a new season, a new group of guys, a lot of guys that came back from that game.’ It’s a new year. We’re trying to get back to that game but not live off of that.”
Current CFL betting odds to win Grey Cup
Blue Bombers +300
BC Lions +425
Toronto Argonauts +550
Hamilton Tiger-Cats +650
Calgary Stampeders +700
Montreal Alouettes +750
Saskatchewan Roughriders +900
Ottawa RedBlacks +1200
Edmonton Elks +1600
The Blue Bombers will open 2023 with new faces – that’s a given in professional sports. Centre Michael Couture (B.C.), receiver Greg Ellingson (Montreal) and defensive tackle Casey Sayles (Hamilton) left in free agency, defensive end Keion Adams wasn’t re-signed, and defensive back Nick Taylor landed in Calgary.
That said, the club did make two massive additions – both familiar names – by signing all-star receiver Kenny Lawler in free agency and then scooping up kicker Sergio Castillo approximately three nanoseconds after he was let go by the Edmonton Elks. That would seem to make a team that was 15-3 last season even stronger – albeit on paper.
“We’ve got like-minded guys here who are always ready to put their hard hats on and are ready to go to work. I’m ready to go to work every day,” Lawler said. “It’s the best feeling when you’ve got guys that have got that hard hat with you.
“Right here is probably the tightest, closest team I’ve ever been a part of. In high school we were a tight group, but that’s probably the tightest group you’ll ever play with because you grow up with guys in the neighbourhood, guys you played Little League with. Here, as soon as someone comes into the locker room everyone does their job to get to know this guy because we know this guy is going to be a part of this team and its’s our job to bring him along and instil the culture in him. That’s what makes it different. Not too many guys in professional football are doing their due diligence to learn the next guy’s name – they’re more so worried about the paycheque, about how they’re going to increase their stats to get a higher paycheque next year. Here, it’s a team.
“A lot of other teams in the CFL there are probably individuals, but here we’re a team.”
Lawler’s smile, for what it’s worth was just as wide as Jefferson’s on Sunday. And for good reason – he hasn’t been on a football field for a game or practice since a season-ending injury early last October with Edmonton.
“It’s exciting. We’re ready to go,” Lawler said. “It’s everything that we’ve been training for in the offseason and it’s time to display that. I’ve had a long offseason – I haven’t been in a football activity since October 1st.
“This is a good day, and I couldn’t wait for it. The excitement… it was hard for me to sleep last night because I knew I was going to be back out here with the guys that I’ve gone to war with, bled and cried and done all of that with them. There’s a level of excitement that is unmatched. This is what we live to do and if you don’t get the chills, if you’re not pumped up and ready to go then I don’t know what you do it for.”
