GUELPH – It’s been a familiar scene around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers dating back to the very first snap of training camp: Jonathan Kongbo pacing the sidelines, playing the spectator during practice, then working up a healthy lather in private training sessions on the sidelines with trainers afterward.
Frankly, it was impossible not to notice a 6-5, 255 chiseled-from-stone man-mountain who moves with both power and agility. And when the University of Tennesse product returned to practice last week after complete recovery from a torn-up knee he suffered last October in a game against Auburn, he also jumped off the page for his 100-miles-per-hour approach to every drill.
Some of his teammates noticed it, too, and not-so-subtly reminded him to gear down occasionally.
Yeah, about that…
“I wouldn’t say, it was ‘tone it down’… maybe practice a little smarter,” said Kongbo after practice Tuesday in a chat with the Bombers travelling media. “I mean, those guys have been going for a little while, so it’s just knowing when and when not to. It was just first-week jitters, so they understood. We talked it out afterwards.”
The Bombers aren’t sure what to expect exactly from Kongo as he is scheduled to make his Canadian Football League debut Thursday against the Toronto Argonauts, but they do know he will be doing everything at full speed.
“I’m real ready, real excited,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay in the moment, I’m not trying to get overwhelmed and rely on my preparation.”
Kongbo had been drawing some NFL Draft interest heading into last year with the Volunteers when he suffered his injury, all but spiking his prospects down south. But the Bombers pounced with the second of their two first-round draft picks in May, knowing that they would be getting an exceptional prospect eventually when he returned to work.
And that time is now.
“It’s been gruelling. It’s been a gruelling eight months and whenever you feel like you reached a milestone there’s still another milestone you’ve got to reach,” Kongbo admitted. “Ever since I got here, working with Al (Couture, Head Athletic Therapist) it’s been nothing but great. They’ve worked me day in and day out, him and Brayden (Miller, Assistant Athletic Therapist), in the weight room just getting me better. It’s been good.”
Asked about his strengths as a player, Kongbo listed off “my tenacity, desire, motor, speed, aggressiveness… those are things that edge me out.”
And on the NFL interest, Kongbo shrugged and then gave a hint at his living-in-the-moment approach.
“It is what it is,” he said with a shrug. “I try not to think about it too much. I’m here in Winnipeg, I’m happy I’m in Winnipeg. In hindsight, this is where I was meant to be. As far as the NFL and all that, I’m not too concerned about it. I’m just concerned about Winnipeg and what’s going on right now.”
Born in the Congo, Kongbo moved to Canada when he five years old and focused on basketball before turning to football as a senior in high school. That led him to Wyoming, then Arizona Western, and finally Tennessee.
“It’s a funny story,” said Kongbo of his introduction to football. “My principal threatened me with detention if I didn’t come to practice. I was dodging him for a couple of weeks and one day I finally decided to go out to practice.
“It worked out for the best.”
