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May 4, 2020

“It was almost surreal” | Liegghio excited to learn from Medlock

It was last Friday – less than 24 hours after the Canadian Football League Draft – and Marc Liegghio decided he had better get on the phone and speak again to Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea.

They had chatted once before in the days leading up to the draft and again, as is tradition, not long after the Bombers had selected the Western University kicker in the fifth round, 39th overall.

Still, Liegghio didn’t want O’Shea’s last impression of him to be framed by the conversation he had when the Bombers boss first welcomed to the club late last Thursday – the one where he was emotionally overwhelmed, sobbing and repeating the same thing over and over again.

“Once you see your name on that list on draft day, everything just stops,” began Liegghio in a conversation with bluebombers.com. “I was so emotional on draft night… it was almost surreal, like it doesn’t feel like it’s happening in that moment. But, obviously, people have been watching you and appreciated what you have done and all the hard work you’ve put into it and then want you be part of their program.”

“When Coach O’Shea called me and I saw his name pop up on my phone I burst into tears with emotion. Just to hear him say, ‘Congrats and we can’t look forward enough to having you with us and we’re so happy we got a chance to pick you.’ That’s such an amazing moment. I just kept saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you… ‘

“And so,” added Liegghio with a laugh, “I felt like I needed to call him the next day and have more of a real conversation other than just repeating ‘Thank you’ a thousand times over and over again.”

Liegghio was the first of four kickers selected in the 2020 draft and drew high praise from Bombers GM Kyle Walters in his post-draft evaluation of the club’s selections, calling him ‘one of the best kickers we’ve seen in the draft in a while.’

A U Sports or OUA conference all-star in each of his four seasons at Western – he was the U Sports First-Team All-Canadian as both the placekicker and punter in 2019 – Liegghio posted some gaudy numbers with the Mustangs. Over the last three years, he connected on 89.7% of his field goal attempts (70-78) while adding a variety of punts to that aspect of his skillset by bringing in some of his training as a member of a Team Ontario youth rugby provincial team.

And if that sounds familiar, it should: Justin Medlock, the Bombers’ current hoofer and a future hall of famer, is still experimenting and working on his craft every single day even at age 36 and 13 years into his pro career.

“It’s a very interesting situation for me because when Coach called me the first time he mentioned they have Medlock on their roster and they are very happy with what he’s been doing,” said Liegghio. “When I spoke to (O’Shea) on Friday he told me again about Medlock and how great of a kicker he is and the legacy he’s made in Winnipeg. He also spoke about how I can learn from him over the next couple of years and hopefully become as good as him and give to the team what he has been able to do.”

Liegghio was primarily a soccer player growing up in Southern Ontario, switching to football in high school. He’s worked with CFL hall of fame punter Hank Ilesic, former Bomber Lirim Hajrullahu – now with the Los Angeles Rams – as well as Darryl Wheeler and ‘Coach Kick’, Ken Urquhart.

Like Medlock, Liegghio is forever honing his craft, but has some natural ability, too, having hit a 67-yard field goal ‘just for fun’ while training and regularly hitting bombs.

 

“This is all so exciting. It’s like the next step in my life has begun,” said Liegghio. “It’s always been my dream to play in the CFL. It’s such an honour to see my name come across that list on draft night and to now have a chance to show what I can do for the Bombers.

“I’ve seen how great the atmosphere is there on game day and I’ve heard the fans are really behind the team. I can’t wait to get the chance to put on a jersey and experience that myself.”