Bombers punter denies gravity

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2011 (5167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE was no pressure, no added gravity pulling Mike Renaud down.

At least that’s what the Blue Bombers punter said after his performance in Winnipeg’s convincing 33-17 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ivor Wynne Stadium Friday night.

Believe him or not — your choice — but he would be an authority on matters of stress these days. Renaud answered the not-so-subtle challenge put on him by the Bombers organization this past week, punting seven times for a 47-yard average against the Ticats and in the process, took some of the weight off his shoulders.

“I felt like myself — it felt great,” he said after arriving back in Winnipeg Saturday morning. “It just felt good to kind of get that monkey off my back, so to speak.”

That monkey, as Renaud put it, felt more like a wolf at his door. The Bombers were growing tired of watching their field position suffer due to poor punts, so they brought in veteran Jamie Boreham to challenge Renaud in the days leading up to the Hamilton contest.

Renaud eventually came out of top of the punting ‘competition,’ and followed up that momentum with a decent showing under the bright lights of game action.

His first punt: 45-yards. His second: 52-yards; both directed to the sideline with sufficient hang time to allow the coverage teams a chance to make a play.

“Most of the pressure was during the week leading up to the game,” he said. “Once I got through that, things kind of settle down for me.

“You’re going to hit some boomers and you’re going to hit some that you’re not necessarily thrilled about. Looking back now, I think I helped with the field (position) battle more than I did to hurt us.”

For a while there on Friday, it looked like Renaud wasn’t going to get a chance to punt at all. The Bombers elected to try a long field goal at the end of the first drive and followed that up with a fake punt — taking Renaud’s leg out of the equation.

“I was itching to get out there, just to get it over with,” he said.

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While it was easy to connect the dots between the Bombers trying some rare special teams sleight of hand and a possible lack of confidence in Renaud’s punting (especially given the events of the past week), what the fake punt did was actually make life a little easier for the Ottawa native.

“I knew that they weren’t putting a ton of pressure on me (after the fake). I could take my time and get it off,” he said, knowing he’ll have to put in similar effort in practice this week and against the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday night to keep the heat off.

The Bombers are back on the practice field Tuesday morning.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca