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June 6, 2023

“I really think continuity is important”

The curtain is about to rise on the 2023 Canadian Football League season and one of the prevailing narratives continuing to swirl around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is the club’s collective age.

In fact, to hear how some have already chosen to spin it, this bunch will need the help of walkers and canes just to step onto the turf at IG Field Friday night against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats given how old they are. And, as a result, the law of diminishing returns will come into play sooner or later before the year is done.

Two things about that…

First, the narrative is not technically wrong, as – according to CFL stats king Steve Daniel – the Blue Bombers current roster is the oldest with an average age of 28.9 years. Yet, the difference between the Blue Bombers and the rest of the league is also teeny tiny.

The evidence:

TEAM AVG GAMES PLAYED AVG AGE
Winnipeg 51.7 28.9
Saskatchewan 35.3 28.6
BC 39.8 28.3
Montreal 40.8 28.2
Ottawa 39.0 28.0
Hamilton 40.2 27.9
Calgary 33.9 27.6
Edmonton 27.5 27.6
Toronto 29.4 27.3

*Based on current rosters and injured lists

“All of this is because Stanley (Bryant) is so old (he’s 37) it raises the median – that’s the real issue here,” began quarterback Zach Collaros with a grin in a chat with bluebombers.com after another scorching practice on Tuesday. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have played a lot of football. It’s funny, sometimes I look at a guy and think he’s older because he’s played a lot of football, but he’s really not that old. I mean, I have no idea how old Nic Demski is. He could be 25, he could be 31 (he’s 29, FYI) but he has played a lot.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who have played a lot of games and a lot of games together. I really think continuity is important. It’s not just about understanding the schemes, it’s about how we communicate and treat each other. If somebody makes a mistake you can tell them to pick it up and it’s not personal because we’re all friends outside of here, our families are all friends outside of here.”

The Blue Bombers projected home-opening roster will feature 10 starters 30 years of age or older in Bryant (37), Collaros, Pat Neufeld and Adam Bighill (34), Jermarcus Hardrick (33), Jackson Jeffcoat, Willie Jefferson and Jake Thomas (32), Chris Kolankowski (31) and Alden Darby, Jr. (30). Another potential starter currently on the injured list – linebacker Kyrie Wilson – is also 30.

In addition, five other players on the roster in Mike Benson (36), Mike Miller (34), Jesse Briggs (33), Sergio Castillo (32) and Shayne Gauthier (31) are all over 30, as are practice roster players Karl Schmitz (36), Damian Jackson and Souleymane Karamoko (30), although they are not factored into the average age provided by the CFL.

Of that crew listed above, it’s worth noting Collaros is the CFL’s reigning two-time Most Outstanding Player, Bryant is coming off a year in which he captured the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award for a fourth time with that pair, along with Neufeld, all named to the CFL All-Star team. Both Bighill and Jefferson were West Division All-Stars.

The other factor while discussing this narrative is a simple one: why wouldn’t a team that went 15-3 last year, appeared in its third straight Grey Cup and missed out on a third consecutive championship NOT run it back with as much of the current roster as possible?

“Look, if I was playing Madden and I went 15-3 and went to the Super Bowl with my team, I would try and sign everybody back,” said Hardrick. “I hear that we’re getting ‘older’, too. But guys don’t talk about it unless it’s brought up. To me, it makes me want to work harder. As Stan (Bryant) says, if you let the rust get on you, you get old.’ So, we keep working, we stay sharp and keep trying to get better.

“Sure, we’ve got some age on us, but we also work harder, and it means we’ve got some experience behind us. There’s a comfort in continuity. I know I’ve played almost 100 games beside Paddy (Neufeld) and with Stanley. There’s a comfort in seeing Zach behind us and knowing his cadence.

“We know guys are going to work and show up. I don’t know what number the wins and losses are going to add up to, but I do know we’re going to play hard for each other.”

That’s a component to this story that should be explored further – it’s not just that this team has the most experience, it has the most experience together and that’s a massive factor in a league that can be so much roster turnover, especially early in a season.

“Us getting old isn’t us getting slow or us getting soft,” said Jefferson. “It’s us getting smarter and having experience. That’s why when it comes down to those close games and the smallest detail you want an experience guy out there who has seen so many things happen. You can have younger guys out there and talk to them about the various scenarios and situations that pop up, but until you’ve experienced it and know what it’s like to be in those situations you really don’t know.

“The other thing is this: in every position group there is some type of uncle-to-nephew relationship. We’ve got guys in every group who take on that role of uncle or big brother to the young guys. We’re all working to pass down our knowledge to the younger guys.”

The Blue Bombers are the heavy favourites to advance and win the Grey Cup, with most oddsmakers setting their over/under win total at 12.5. In the end, those odds, the collective age, and the club’s perceived ‘championship window’ do make for healthy discussion amongst media and fans but mean little inside the Blue Bombers locker room.

“When we left here last year, I can’t tell you verbatim what everybody was saying, but the general feel was, ‘We came up short. Let’s do it again. Let’s take another swing at this thing,’” said Collaros. “And nobody is thinking this is the last shot we’ve got. But it’s football – every day, every practice might be your last shot. You never know when your time is going to come.

“But nobody is saying, ‘We’ve got to win one for the Gipper because we’re all getting so damn old.’ It’s more like, ‘We had a good season. We didn’t finish it. We like each other a lot. We’re close friends and brothers, so why not stay together for a few more years?’”