It’s a storyline most who follow the Winnipeg Blue Bombers just didn’t see coming.
Sam Hurl – the veteran Canadian foot soldier and one-time starter – wasn’t supposed to win the club’s vacant middle linebacker job in training camp. Heck, outside of the Bomber offices he wasn’t even really considered a candidate.
And even after he did just that and earned the job through training camp, the list of doubters who thought he could hang onto the gig for any length of time still remains as long as the Red River.
Funny thing about all that…
Here we are, three games into the Bombers 2017 season, and there is Hurl atop the club’s defensive-plays-made statistical chart with 19 – 14 tackles, two quarterback pressures, an interception, one knockdown and a tackle-for-loss. So, this could be a tale of redemption, as Hurl started 18 games in 2015 and then one last year, in a development that had many type-casting him as a special teams foot soldier for the rest of his Canadian Football League career.
Hurl, it turns out, missed that memo. Instead, he’s been fuelled by the support of a man who knows a thing or two about playing the position – head coach Mike O’Shea.
“I know there’s people within the organization that believed in me and that I can play,” said Hurl. “I’m just happy to confirm their thoughts and their beliefs in me and their confidence that I can be a starter in this league. It’s good to know I can put that out there for them.
“I’m not where I want to be yet. I still have a lot more things I want to get better at to keep going. I’m not satisfied with just being here.”
Now before we go any further, some background might be in order. Hurl’s chat with bluebombers.com, just so we’re clear, began with him praising his teammates and continued with him honestly critiquing his own work. There was no chest-thumping in the chat and that, in part, might be why he is a good fit in this defence right now. After all, the Bombers defensive dozen underwent a massive turnover up front, with three starters along the line exiting over the winter. Linebacker Khalil Bass left in free agency for Ottawa and the secondary that lines up behind him now features two rookies in Brandon Alexander and Roc Carmichael, and a safety in Taylor Loffler who is making just his 17th career start this Friday in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions.
So it’s been Hurl’s understanding, not only of his assignments but those around him, which has made him such an important cog through the first three games of the season.
“He’s not the most athletic guy, but what he does is quarterback our defence,” said Bombers defensive coordinator Richie Hall. “He knows all the positions, he puts people in the right place and he’s finishing off plays. He’s doing a solid job. At times it might not look pretty, but at the end of the day you look at it and he’s making a play… he’s got a knockdown here, an interception there, he made a tackle here, he took on the guard here.
“I’ve been around him for his whole time (career) and each year, he knows our scheme and what we’re trying to do. He also has confidence in himself as far as where he fits and how he can make people better.”
“He’s a very smart player, a very selfless player.”
That’s a description that hardly has anyone thinking Hurl is Greg Battle reincarnate. But Hurl knew that his understanding of Hall’s defence would give him a shot at camp in a battle in which Kyle Knox – now playing weak side linebacker after the injury to Ian Wild – was viewed as the leading contender.
“I see a guy out there playing good football and leading and fine tuning his leadership,” said O’Shea. “He’s always, as a lot of good players are, critical of his own performance, and it’s not just about his play out there. He’s talking about how he communicated during a game, if he let something slide or accountability… he’s trying to take that to another level.
“I think he’s doing a great job. I don’t know his exact numbers, but I see him going from sideline to sideline in practice and in games. I see him working hard in practice when he’s not actually in taking a rep. I see him doing other things to make sure he’s getting better. That all goes into the leadership.”
That kind of praise is golden to Hurl. It’s not just that it comes from his boss, but from a man who will be added to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame this year in a career playing the same position.
“His belief in me and my leadership… he’s been the motivator for me to keep at this and try to be my best because that’s what he did for his whole career,” said Hurl. “He’s a huge inspiration for me.”
“What you learn from him is it’s not just about the tools you have, it’s about your mindset. That’s what makes you great. He didn’t just play linebacker, he played all the special teams at an elite level. He never complained or whined about it. When you have a guy like that who believes in you, it drives you.
“That’s a huge part of what makes me work, to continue to show him that he was right about me.
“The other motivator is this,” added Hurl. “Football is such a short career. I love it, but you’re putting your body on the line every day and so I didn’t want to put myself at risk without playing at the top of my capabilities. It’s not that I don’t think special teams is important or anything like that, I love it, it’s just that if I’m putting my neck on the line, I want to be doing it at my max and at the position which is the reason I truly love the game. That was my motivation.
BOMBER REPORT – July 18, 2017
OUCH UPDATE: RB Andrew Harris was back at his post on Tuesday after taking a maintenance day. Also returning was DB Kevin Fogg.
“He looked good today running around,” said Mike O’Shea of Fogg. “We’ll see again tomorrow and evaluate after that practice.”
CLOSED DOORS: The Bombers will close Wednesday’s practice to the public and media – a move that isn’t new this year, but could become more common as the season progresses.
“I think we’ll do it several times during the year,” said O’Shea. “It’s just a different atmosphere when we close it down for the players. There’s a little more freedom for them and it allows us to work on some things we want to work on.
“It’s something we’re allowed to do so we choose to do it from time to time.”
OLD HAT: Andrew Harris made his first return to Vancouver as a Bomber last season and so returning to the place where he began his CFL career is still special, but not new.
“The game last year definitely had a lot more sentiment, going back and playing against guys,” said Harris. “But at this point, I’ve done it, we’ve played them in the playoffs, it’s not going to be too much different than any other team, other than the fact I know a handful of guys on the team.
“In the last two years, that team has kind of been dismantled in the fact that guys have moved on and a lot of guys I did play with are gone. It’s another game for us… a Western opponent, it’s a big game for us.”
