Preseason 2: Blue Bombers at Roughriders

Kickoff: Friday, May 30th, 8 p.m. CDT; Mosaic Stadium, Regina
TV/Streaming: CFL+
Radio: 680 CJOB

Scene Setter

Micah Vanterpool is a towering man, officially standing at 6-6 and — depending on the calories he burned during Winnipeg Blue Bombers practice and how high the vittles were stacked on his plate before and afterward — unofficially tipping the scales at 315 pounds.

Imagine then, the scene when the 26-year-old walked into his Grade 3 class at Jarman Elementary School in Tulsa, OK as a substitute teacher.

“I’ve been teaching the last two offseasons,” said the affable Vanterpool in a chat this week with bluebombers.com. “At first, I was subbing, and you’d hear the kids be, ‘Oh, we’ve got a sub. We’ve got a pushover.’ Then I walk in and it’s, ‘Oh… we’re going to have to listen today.'”

Vanterpool’s face then widened into a smile and he followed that with a hearty and contagious baritone laugh. And if you’ve taken in even just one Blue Bombers practice over the last two years that is likely the first thing you might notice about the versatile guard/tackle — at least, once he took his helmet off after consistently owning his patch of grass along the line of scrimmage.

Yes, take an informal poll in Bomberland for a list of who stood out in training camp and you’ll get a wide variety of names. But guaranteed Vanterpool’s name is not only on every list, it’s likely in the Top 3. Not that he’ll be thumping his chest and boasting.

“I try not to get too high or too low,” he said with a shrug. “I just come in every day and bring my lunchpail and do my 1/12th. I don’t focus on the ebbs and flows, but just do my work every day. I will say it’s night and day from a year ago for me. Being around the facility you understand where things are — little things like, ‘Where we go to get lunch? Where do we go for treatment? Who do I talk to for this or that?’

“This year there’s a sense of comfortability for me and once you’re comfortable in your surroundings then you get more comfortable with the playbook, more comfortable with just being around the guys.”

Vanterpool has done exactly what he was supposed to do in camp and leading up to Friday’s final preseason contest in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He’s played the tackle and guard spots and forced his way into the conversation at both, so much so that he’s helped build the narrative by some in the building the club should consider playing three Americans along the offensive line along with left tackle Stanley Bryant, whoever mans the right flank — either Eric Lofton or Kendall Randolph — alongside Canadians Chris Kolankowski and Pat Neufeld. FYI, he’ll start at the left guard spot Friday against the Riders.

Essentially, the University of Hawaii product — who came to Winnipeg last year after playing with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL in 2023 — is a O-line candidate both in the here and now and viewed as a potential long-term piece on a line that last season started four players in their 30s in Bryant (39), Kolankowski (33), Neufeld (36) and Lofton (32).

Vanterpool dressed for just two games in 2024, but just kept grinding every single day. And instead of moping about limited playing time, he embraced the chance to learn on the job. Again, that’s part of the man’s demeanour, where there is a silver lining in every situation.

“It was for sure a learning curve last year,” he said. “I understand that the CFL is a different game. It was a year where it was about, ‘How much better can I be?’ I didn’t think of it as a negative experience at all. Instead, it was, ‘How much can I grow so that when I get an opportunity next year, I can put my best foot forward?’

“We play a little kid’s game. It’s kinda crazy. I’m a teacher in the offseason. I always tell guys, ‘We’re playing football. We could be in a room of screaming third graders.’ There was a time after college when I wasn’t playing, and I thought I was going into that grand vast beyond after football. Then I went to some camps, and you do the measuring stick thing against other players and then you go, ‘OK, I might be able to do this.’

“That’s why every day is a blessing, man, because you never know when it might be your last down of football. I thought I had my last down in college. I’m happy I came up here. I just love being out here competing and playing freely and not being afraid of the mistakes you might make. It’s so much fun.

“That’s one thing… those little kids have taught me so much more than I could teach them. They reminded me that it’s OK sometimes to make mistakes. We play a high-pressure job, and you want to your best every single snap. But sometimes bad things are going to happen and it’s how you respond to them. That was my takeaway from teaching.”

NOTABLE: The Blue Bombers are leaving 13 regulars in Winnipeg for the final preseason game in DEs Willie Jefferson and James Vaughters, DT Jake Thomas, LBs Tony Jones, Kyrie Wilson and Shayne Gauthier, defensive backs Deatrick Nichols, Evan Holm, Terrell Bonds and Michael Griffin II, running back Brady Oliveira and right tackle Eric Lofton.

All four quarterbacks will dress, with Chris Streveler listed as the starter and Zach Collaros, Chase Artopoeus and Terry Wilson listed behind him in that order.

QUOTABLE:

“It’s an opportunity to play football, man. And going through what I went through last year, you appreciate (the games) that much more.

“Any time you get to strap it up and go play a game, that’s an opportunity you don’t want to slip by.” — Chris Streveler