Daniel Petermann won’t dance around the subject or spit out some safe and innocuous answer.
Make no mistake, he’s ecstatic to be a Winnipeg Blue Bomber and here at rookie camp. But he’s also still angry enough to chew nails about not hearing his name called out until the third round in this month’s Canadian Football League Draft.
And that fuels him from the moment he wakes up every day.
“It wasn’t the way I thought it would go, but I’m here now and I’m ready to work,” began Petermann after the practice sessions on Day 2 of Bombers rookie camp. “It was a humbling experience. I thought I was going to go a little higher… you slip and now you’ve got to work harder.
“I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder.”
Just to rewind a tad, Petermann – a 6-0 203-pound product of McMaster University – followed up a solid U Sports season by testing through the roof at the National Combine during CFL Week in Winnipeg this spring. He posted the fastest time in the 40, tied for the highest vertical leap and finished in the top five in broad jump and then looked solid in 1-on-1s. All this fuelled talk he could be the first or second receiver off the board on draft night and a possible Top 10 pick.
And then 25 players were selected ahead of him – with all nine teams passing on him at least once and four receivers selected – before he heard his own name called on draft day.
“I’m coming in here to take a job, play specials (teams) and get on the roster,” said Petermann. “I just know they want to start two Canadians (at receiver) and so they need Canadian depth. I’m going to do whatever they say.”
Petermann described himself as hard working, explosive, and with the ability to make people miss. He’s getting a look at slotback during rookie camp, meaning he could be in the picture behind Nic Demski on the depth chart.
And it’s that chip he spoke so openly about which could serve him well on Friday for the last day of rookie camp and when the veterans report on Sunday. Told after a chat with bluebombers.com about the story of one-time Bomber Pierre-Luc Labbe, who wore No. 47 as a reminder of how far he had fallen in his draft year before he carved out a respectable CFL career, Petermann grinned.
“I like that.”
Rashaun Simonise, the first of three receivers selected by the Bombers in the 2018 draft, has already had his story told a few times. And after Petermann, the club selected another intriguing prospect in Laval receiver Tyrone Pierre.
Pierre is another impressive athlete, but his numbers last year with the Rouge et Or – 13 catches for 122 yards – are hardly jaw-dropping. But the circumstances he worked through last season – losing his starting job – and how he handled it says something of Pierre’s character.
Pierre said his days at Laval were big in helping him become a man.
“I left my house at 18 (he is from Ottawa) and moved to a different province that was pure French,” he said. “It was a bit of a culture shock, a bit of an adjustment, but I was able to figure things out. I had to start cooking for myself, doing laundry. It was a lot to take in and sometimes overwhelming, but it helped me mature.
“Whatever happened (with losing his starting job) happened. The coaches felt they had to go with a different group and instead of being a bad teammate I decided to buy in and help contribute in whatever way I could. I gained a lot, learned a lot from that experience and hopefully I can carry all those lessons with me.
“I try not to be selfish. Anywhere coach wants to put me, I’m willing to play. If you want to put me on defence, specials, I’m willing to do it. I just want to play. This is a dream of mine. I want this to be my job and so I don’t care what I do as long as I’m on the field.”
BOMBERS ROOKIE CAMP | DAY 2
POP-POP-POP:
The Bomber rookies wore shoulder pads in the first chunk of Thursday’s session before going without for the last portion. Once the regular season starts, CFL teams are no longer allowed to conduct padded practices in an effort to reduce injury. Previously, a team could conduct up to 17 full-contact practices during the season.
“We only get so many of those so we’ve got to get them in while we can,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “But we also took them off in the second practice just to give them a different feel and remind them again of practising professionally without pads because we’re going to spend the entire season without pads so I’ve got to show them what that’s like, too.
“Certain position groups need that work with the pads on, but I want to give them a taste of both.”
QB STUFF:
The Bombers have four quarterbacks in rookie camp – Matt Nichols, Alex Ross, Chris Streveler and Zack Mahoney – and were to have a fifth. Under a program launched in 2012, CFL teams are allowed to bring in a Canadian U Sports quarterback not yet eligible for the draft to study and learn in a professional environment. Last year the Bombers brought in Vincent Massey Trojans pivot Andre Dueck before he headed to McMaster.
The plan this year was to have Des Catellier of the Manitoba Bisons participate, but he pulled out due to an injury.
