Quick Hits – Training Camp – Day 1
Notes and quotes from the first day of Blue Bombers training camp…
EYES AHEAD: The Blue Bombers opened main camp with six kickers – incumbent Marc Liegghio, who handled the placekicking, punting and kickoff chores last year – veteran Sergio Castillo, one of the heroes of the 2021 championship who is back for a third stint with the club, rookie placekicker Chandler Staton, Kansas State punter Devin Anctil and two Global punters in Jamieson Sheahan and Karl Schmitz.
Every single one of them is scrapping for a share of the kicking duties.
“I’ve met all the guys briefly for a couple days now and I met them more today,” Liegghio said.
“They all seem like really cool guys and I’m looking forward to working with them in camp. It’s just like having a few more friends with us in camp. Competition is going to be at any camp you go to, so it’s just coming out here and doing your thing and keep doing what you do.
“You’ve just got to stick with it like you’re the only guy out here. You put the work in the offseason, so you come in and do your thing, have the coaches evaluate you and then you get feedback and move on from there.”
Liegghio said he wants to again handle all the kicking, but added “whatever the team needs to help them win, I’ll do whatever they want me to do.”
Castillo, meanwhile, carries that cred of having hit massive kicks before for the Blue Bombers – he was 5-for-5 in the 2021 Grey Cup – and has a veteran presence that brings confidence to a veteran crew.
“It’s definitely good to be back; it just feels like home coming back and seeing all the familiar faces,” he said. “I’m definitely ready to get this show on the road.
“I’m just grateful to have a job. When you think about it, there’s 32 teams in the NFL, there’s nine here and another 16 with the USFL and XFL, so less than 60 jobs in the whole world. I’m grateful to have a job and then grateful to be in a position with this team here. There’s something special here. They’ve been building it… I know I’ve been here since 2015 and to see where it’s gone from then to now with the core values the same, that’s when I know its real.
“The way I see it, it is what it is. I can’t change the situation so whatever situation it is, I’m going to attack whatever way I can and be the best version of myself – it doesn’t what they do, if I don’t bring my ‘A’ game it doesn’t matter. It only matters what I bring on a daily basis.”
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NEW FACES/SO LONG/ETC: The Blue Bombers massaged their roster prior to the first day of main training camp, adding four players, releasing a dozen, moving two to the suspended list and DE Thiadric Hanson and LB Kyrie Wilson to the six-game injured list.
The new faces include:
-WR Braxton Westfield (Carson-Newman)
-DT Julius Turner (Rutgers)
-Canadian OL Jakub Szott (McMaster)
-Global punter Jamieson Sheahan (California)
Released from the roster were RB TaZhawn Henry, QB Cooper Callis, OL Tyler Grisolia, P Chris MacLean, K Marc Orozco, DB Cedrick Lavigne, WR Michael O’Shea, DB Jordan Brown, DB Tyrique McGhee, DB Karon Delince, DB Noah Hallett and WR Jaivon Heiligh.
O’Shea, it should be pointed out, appeared to be injured in Friday’s practice session.
“It’s pro football. It happens,” said head coach Mike O’Shea of the difficulty of having to release his son. “I got cut, too, a few times.”
O’Shea did add that it’s a hard conversation cutting every player, while also mentioning that Hallett could return when he is fully recovered from his offseason knee surgery.
“He’s not going to pass his medical right now,” he said. “That conversation you have with Noah you have five months ago with how this is going to play out. He’s on board. We loved having him around and he’ll keep working.”
DB Will Allen Jr. and DT O’Bryan Goodson were both moved to the suspended list.
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FYI: DT Jake Thomas has not yet arrived for camp but is expected soon as he makes his way from his offseason base in New Brunswick… O’Shea said Sunday’s practice was “extremely clean. There’s value to that. Our guys show up and they know exactly what to do and how to do it and that makes the jobs of the coaches a little easier.”… Chris Kolankowski took the first reps at centre Sunday, for what it’s worth… A handful of veterans did not practice including LBs Adam Bighill and Jesse Briggs and receiver Brendan O’Leary-Orange… Former Blue Bomber OL Val St. Germain is in camp as one of the guest coaches. Acadia head coach Jeff Cummins will also soon be making his annual appearance. Also expected is former Toronto RB Michael Fletcher, who was most recently a defensive analyst at Arizona State.
LIVING THE DREAM: OL Tui Eli was back in Blue Bombers colours for the first time since the 2021 Western Final. He was suspended for the Grey Cup after making the decision to not be vaccinated and returns after sitting out last season.
“I’ll tell you about my interaction with him today,” said O’Shea. “He’s snapping at the beginning of practice, and I just look at him and say, ‘How’s that feel, Tui?’ And he says, ‘I’m living the dream.’ Now, you pass people in the hallway on a weekly basis, and they say, ‘I’m living the dream’ and they say it in a way that you know they’re not. But when Tui says it, you know he absolutely is from the look on his face and the way he says it, the way he communicates with you you 100 percent absolutely know that he is living the dream right then and there. I appreciate that. It just gives you another perspective.”
Eli gives the Blue Bombers options at both guard and centre and O’Shea said the club welcomed him back not just because he was an important part of the ’21 cup run.
“He’s such a good human being,” O’Shea said. “There would be no other choice. If you made a choice to not support him, you would be going against humanity – I don’t know how else to say it. If you get to know him a little bit you know how good a person he is. He deserves our support.”
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QUOTABLE: “From Day 1 of free agency – even from Day 1 of our offseason I knew where I wanted to be. After the game I was able to play Winnipeg, me and my family stayed in the Winnipeg locker room for about an hour. The love that I have for these guys is real. I can’t explain it… when you go to war with guys, man, and you develop a relationship with them, words can’t really describe it. This bond is special that I’ve got with these guys.
“There was no thinking about where I was going to go. It was ‘For the W’ and FIFO.” – Kenny Lawler.
