Ya gotta dress Dressler for success

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This article was published 03/09/2016 (3323 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — Weston Dressler knows there will be a wave of emotions when he steps onto Mosaic Field today in his first Labour Day Classic as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

What Dressler, who spent eight seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before being released and signing with the Bombers in the off-season, isn’t so sure of is whether he’ll get a warm welcome from the home crowd.

“I think I might,” said Dressler, 31. “But you never know what’s going to happen. I won’t be surprised with whatever happens.”

If the number of green Dressler jerseys seen around town in the days leading up to the game is any indication, it’s that the announcement of No. 7, despite being dressed in Blue and Gold, will once again bring Mosaic to its feet.

“There has been a few of them around,” said Dressler. “That’s always nice to see and fun to have that.”

Asked what his favourite Labour Day memory had been with the Riders, Dressler was quick to answer. It was just two seasons ago, in 2014, in what was his first game back after a brief stint in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Just the reception that I got at that time was a little overwhelming,” he said. “But it was a pretty special moment and I think this week will be a memory that I have for a while.”

His return to Saskatchewan will also mark his return to the Bombers lineup. Dressler has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury he sustained in a 30-23 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in Week 6.

Before his injury, Dressler seemed to finally be hitting his stride with QB Matt Nichols and the Bombers’ offence, posting back-to-back games with a 100-plus receiving yards. Needless to say, his return is more than welcome on a club looking for its fifth successive victory.

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“The guy is a future Hall of Famer and a difference-maker on the field,” said Nichols. “He’s a guy, that if he’s on your roster, you want him on the field and we’re happy to have him back.”

‘Just the reception that I got at that time was a little overwhelming. But it was a pretty special moment and I think this week will be a memory that I have for a while’– Weston Dressler

As for what he hopes to do to his former team, as payback for his release, Dressler chose to stay relatively tight-lipped.

“I’d like to win,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing.

EXTRA POINTS: Running back Andrew Harris has scored a rushing touchdown in each of his last four games and has accounted for more than 30 per cent (441 of 1,411 yards) of the team’s total offence… Nichols is the sixth quarterback to start for the Bombers in a Labour Day Classic game in the last six years, with Brian Brohm (2015), Drew Willy (2014), Justin Goltz (2013), Joey Elliot (2012) and Buck Pierce (2011) also getting starts… Saskatchewan QB Darian Durant is 6-0 as a starting quarterback in Labour Day games… Bombers kicker Justin Medlock is on a streak of 20 consecutive successful field goals — a team record — including seven from 40-plus yards.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.