Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie camp is all about introductions and first impressions. And with that simple cue serving as a backdrop, it seems appropriate to offer this as a first peek at English defensive end Kemari Munier-Bailey…
“My strength is I’m not a selfish guy,” said Munier-Bailey following practice in answering a question from CJOB’s Derek Taylor. “I play with the team. I want to win. I want to get (the defence) off the field. I want to make plays. I just want to make destruction to make me make the tackle or other players make the tackle — do what I can do to help my team win, even if I’m not even playing in that game.
“I’m not selfish. I believe in the process. I have a lot of patience. I’m just here to make sure that people know Winnipeg is coming to kill everything and anything in the way.”
Now, that last line is not exactly going to have rivals across the Canadian Football League quivering in their cleats — not yet at least — but it will have the Blue Bombers coaching staff, particularly on defence, grinning. A little bravado-meets-aggression is hardly a negative in football and Munier-Bailey — selected by the Blue Bombers second overall in last week’s CFL Global Draft after the club made a deal to move up to grab him — appears to have that oozing from his every pore.
A product of Birmingham, England who has 20 or 21 siblings — “I don’t know… my dad’s got kids out there” — Munier-Bailey turned to football after drawing attention as a basketball player on Great Britain’s junior national team. He’s also a fighter, both literally and figuratively.
“I wanted to be a boxer. I’m a Tyson Fury fan,” he said of the former heavyweight champion. “I grew up in Birmingham so I’m a fighter, a fighting-type of guy, a rugby guy. I have older brothers and went to a boys’ school so my high school had boxing and kickboxing, so I did all that stuff.”
All that stuff helped get him to the U.S. and earn a scholarship after just one year of high school football at Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, Utah. He played his college ball at Fresno State, the University of Idaho and finally at Weber State and in his senior season with the Wildcats he earned All-America and All-Big Sky honours after registering nine sacks and 18.5 tackles for a loss.
The Blue Bombers loved his tape so much they had initially moved to put him on their negotiation list. And when they found out he was eligible for the CFL Global Draft — and then interviewed him leading up to it — they made the decision to move up eight spots to select him.
After just a couple of days here in Manitoba, he’s already starting to give some of the love back.
“I already feel at home and it’s better than England because there’s lots of space… England is very crowded,” he said with a grin. “Even at the grocery story they’ve English stuff and I was like, ‘Cool, now I don’t have to get my mom to send me stuff here.’ I’ve got to tell my family to come out here and see me real quick. My brother is planning to come out here and see me.
“I’m excited. Winnipeg is cool. It’s pretty flat, though, and there’s a lot of wind. It’s more like the midwest of America but it’s going to be my home now. I like the jersey and the colours, too.”
There’s an energy to Munier-Bailey that is infectious. He’s also got an appreciation for where he’s at and a worldly, big-picture view that combines his bravado with a humility. To riff on a phrase often used in this building, ‘he seems like he’d be a good Bomber.’
“I’m meeting a lot of new people. I want to enjoy the journeys,” he said. “I’ve been a lot of places in my life, seen a lot of people. There are people I’ve met here who work in the media for the club, the trainers, the people who work in the equipment room… that’s their calling. And I’m appreciative of them and the time they’re giving me to help me get right. Look at all the guys are out here and they’re helping me? How can you not be appreciative?”
And, finally, one more from Munier-Bailey, who said he wanted to be known as being ‘destructive’ when asked about possibly facing the B.C. Lions in Week 1 of the regular season:
“I have friends that play for the B.C. Lions, like four of my teammates,” he explained, “and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to whup them now. First game — I’m going to whup them.’ I’m going to whup them all season. Every time I see them, I’m going to whup them. Just because they’re my friends I’m going to whup them… even harder.”
REBUILT, RECHARGED, REINVIGORATED STREVELER: One of the most-encouraging developments of the first two days of training camp is to see veteran QB Chris Streveler back on the field doing his thing after suffering a devastating knee injury in the Banjo Bowl last September.
The 30-year-old pivot had a busy offseason in getting married, having his first child and growing his quarterback business in Arizona which kept him busy as he ferociously attacked his rehab.
“I did believe I would be here and that was my goal when this happened,” he said after practice Thursday. “I said, ‘Look, I want to be ready by training camp next year and so I’m just so happy to be here, man. It just gives me a new appreciation for getting to play this game and I’m just very thankful to get to play football.
“I’ve never had an injury like that. Every injury I’ve ever had has been something where maybe it’s a broken bone or maybe it’s a sprain and you can kind of grit your teeth and get through it. (The knee injury) is something you can’t play through with so it makes you appreciate how quickly things can change in this business and in this game. One second you’re doing a wedge pass and the next minute you’re on the ground holding your knee together.
“It gives you an appreciation for getting to come out and play this game and savouring every day, every moment — especially getting into Year 8 now. I’ve been doing this for a little while and I do appreciate it even that much more. Everything I go through in this game, whether it’s positive or negative, gives me a new appreciation for getting to play this game and that’s just another thing to add to the list of things I’ve gone through on this journey.”
NEXT: The final day of rookie camp goes Friday from 10:15 a.m.-12:20 p.m. at the field beside WSF on Chancellor Matheson Road.
