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September 26, 2017

“There’s unity throughout this whole league.”

Chris Randle (8) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the pre-season game at TD Place in Ottawa, ON on Monday June 13, 2016. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

Chris Randle has long been one of the more socially aware players on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He’s well read, well spoken, and not afraid to offer an opinion on a variety of topics.

And so, after a weekend in which National Football League teams and players used various methods to protest comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump – and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, in turn, locked arms in a show of solidarity before the Canadian anthem on Sunday – the issue has, not surprisingly, reached the Bombers clubhouse.

“You’ve got to acknowledge it,” Randle told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “It’s all over social media and we recognize it and just from my NFL colleagues, I think it has brought attention and awareness to the matter that is at hand, and that’s police brutality and things of this nature, injustices between white and black.”

In case you missed it, Trump used his Twitter account on the weekend to scold NFL players who kneeled during the U.S. national anthem, saying that anyone who did so should be fired.

That started a firestorm of reactions from across the NFL and included players and some owners locking arms or standing in solidarity for games on Sunday.

The Riders did the same prior to their game with Calgary, and both CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie and the CFL Players Association issued statements in support of free speech.

It’s uncertain if the Bombers will do something similar this Saturday when they face the Edmonton Eskimos in the Alberta capital, but Randle was quick to note the difference between playing in Canada and the U.S.

“That doesn’t really affect us up here as far as the anthem because of the great culture and the freedoms and everything is acknowledged in that flag,” he said.

“Canada has been so great to us, to invite us up here as Americans, as a football player. I respect and acknowledge that and honour their flag and I honour our situation. At the same time, there’s unity throughout this whole league. It’s been acknowledged by our commissioner already. We respect that and if we need to show unity in that way they’ll definitely allow us to do it and that’s pretty cool, too.”

“Focus on the game. That will be our priority.”

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was also asked to weigh in on the topic and whether he would support his players if they decided to do something similar as a show of unity before Saturday’s game.

“We’ve got a great country here,” he said. “I always support freedom of speech, obviously. Guys have opinions and some thoughtful discussion amongst each other… that’s important.

“I think our players are pretty focused on the task at hand and it is the Canadian anthem, not the American anthem. There’s always discussion and a lot of intelligent thought that goes into those conversations about their home.

“I’d have to sit down with them. My door is always open and they can come talk to me about what they’re thinking about. We’ve got a pretty unified team and I’m sure that will come up in conversation soon.”


DRESSLER UPDATE

Veteran receiver Weston Dressler did not finish last Friday’s game with what was called an upper-body injury, and O’Shea said after practice he would be out for a “couple weeks, for sure.”

“I talked to him today and he said he’s feeling pretty good,” he added. “We’ve got to be smart, too.”

Ryan Lankford worked in Dressler’s spot during practice on Tuesday as the team attempts to bring some of the new receivers added to the roster, including former NFL’er Chris Givens, up to speed.

“Ultimately, it’s like every week – I’ve got to be ready if I’m in there, make the plays when the plays are there,” said Lankford. “The beautiful thing about this offence is it’s conceptual. So if you know the concepts, you can be anywhere. Yes, it’s different, not it’s not different… it’s the same stuff we’ve been doing since training camp.”

ADAMS SALUTED

Bombers receiver Darvin Adams was named one of the CFL’s Top Performers for Week 14 after his performance in last Friday’s win over Ottawa. Adams had seven receptions for 195 yards and a 75-yard score, pushing his season totals to 65 catches for 961 yards, both career bests.

Also honoured were Toronto RB James Wilder Jr. and Stampeder DL Ja’Gared Davis after judging conducted by Matt Dunigan and Duane Forde of TSN and Pierre Vercheval of RDS.

“It feels good to get that kind of acknowledgement. It just goes to show we’ve got a good team because it takes more than me to get that type of nomination. My hat goes off to the guys on the line, Matt (Nichols) and my receiving corps for just taking the focus off the line and letting me catch a couple of balls.”

Nichols repeated again after Friday’s win that Adams is one of the most under-rated players in the CFL, a theme he continued Tuesday when the team got back to work.

“Anyone who has been around him on a daily basis understands the work he puts in and the kind of personality he brings to this team,” said Nichols. “I’ve been saying for a long time how good he is. (Friday’s performance) might have been a little more eye-opening for some other people. He’s a guy that people need to pay attention to.”

“That doesn’t matter to me,” added Adams when asked about a possible lack of recognition around the league. “Let them keep not thinking about me. Maybe I can have more games like that. At the end of the day, I don’t look at that. I let the other people do the talking about that stuff.”

MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY

Darvin Adams, when asked to comment on the play of Nichols:

“Animal. Matt makes plays with his legs, with his mind, and with his arm. There’s a lot of different things that go on that people don’t see that Matt does. But within this locker room and within this offence we all know, we’ve got mad respect for him.”

NEW BLUE BLOOD

The Bombers have added import wide receiver Garry Brown to their practice roster.

Brown (6-0, 204) was a star at California University of Pennsylvania, where he made 222 career receptions for 3,741 yards and 43 touchdowns. As a senior he led Division II with 26 touchdownds while averaging 16.2 catches and 122.9 yards per game en route to being named a consensus First-Team All-American and a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II’s MVP.

Brown was most recently with the Oakland Raiders after signing as a free agent. To see Brown’s highlight tape, click here.

ANOTHER WEST SHOWDOWN

The Bombers’ final third of the season features four of six games against West Division opponents, beginning this Saturday in Edmonton and including home dates with the B.C. Lions on Oct. 14th and 28th and a trip to Calgary for the season finale on Nov. 3rd.

A win this week would not only push the Bombers to three wins and six points better than the Esks, but would also clinch the season series after defeating them 33-26 earlier this year. The Esks are 7-5 after a 7-0 start, but Nichols, perhaps as well as anyone, knows how tough it is to win in Edmonton.

“This is a huge game, always is,” said Nichols. “They’re a good football team and have been a good football team for a while now. It’s going to be a tough one and a tough place to go and win.”

Asked if the fact the Esks have lost five in a row and are coming off a bye week makes them more dangerous, Nichols added:

“I don’t know about more dangerous… they’re always dangerous. They’re an offence that puts up points, their defence makes it tough on you and they’ve got explosive guys in the special teams game. It’s a tough team, tough place to win and a few of their losses lately easily could have been wins.

“Just like all season, we don’t get caught up in records or what kind of streaks teams are on.”