Something special about Miller

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This article was published 08/07/2019 (2303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike Miller is an unassuming guy who makes his living as one of the best special-teams players in the business.

On Friday night, it was the 30-year-old veteran’s turn in the spotlight when he registered seven special-teams tackles and tied a single-game CFL record held by six others in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 29-14 victory against the Ottawa Redblacks.

Even Miller seemed a little surprised.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” the product of Riverview, N.B., said after Monday’s practice. “Before that, I think I’ve only ever had five, and that was tough enough just to get five. It’s pretty crazy.”

Friday’s output brings his season total to a league-leading eight, which would put him on pace to obliterate the single-season record of 37 set by former Blue Bombers special-teams ace Wade Miller (now the club’s CEO) in 1994 and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ Dylan Barker in 2009.

Mike Miller now has 168 special-teams tackles in 161 regular-season games and should be well-positioned to catch Jason Arakgi, the former member of the B.C. Lions who owns the career mark of 194. Wade Miller is second on the all-time list with 184.

Mike Miller was asked to explain his success.

“You’ve got to have kind of a fearless mentality, I guess,” he said. “You’re going to be running down 100 miles an hour and knowing there’s going to be contact at some point. You can’t be hesitant. A lot of the time, when you’re hesitant, that’s when bad things happen, injury-wise, or you’re going to open up a seam for a returner for a big return or something like that. A fearless mentality, maybe a little bit of a screw loose. You’ve got to enjoy it.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea enjoyed Miller’s record-setting night.

“There are guys around him working hard on special teams, too,” O’Shea said. “But he’s been doing that — I know it hasn’t amounted to seven — but he’s been playing high-level special teams with an edge and a competitive greatness since he’s been in the league. So this one added up to seven.

“He’s probably had games where he’s played really well and not gotten a tackle. Been dominant in all the phases, it just didn’t work out that the ball came to him. But that was a phenomenal game — a phenomenal effort — and I’m just honestly proud that I was standing there watching it.”

COMING UP ROSES: Winnipeg cornerback Winston Rose wasn’t a high-profile off-season acquisition like teammates Willie Jefferson or Chris Matthews, but his contributions Friday shouldn’t be understated.

The 25-year-old registered five tackles, picked off one pass and recovered a fumble in the win over the Redblacks. Snatching a deep ball away from Ottawa wideout Dominique Rhymes just before halftime was a sign Rose is settling in with his new team.

“After making that play, it made me feel good,” Rose said.

“I won’t say I’d arrived, but it knocked some rust off, so now I can be comfortable.”

The play on the interception was very deliberate.

“I wouldn’t say I baited him, but I know the play before that Rhymes or R.J. (Harris) caught a short pass, so I’m thinking they’re going into the half, they’re gonna try to take a deep shot,” Rose said.

“So I stayed deep and let everything happen in front of me. That’s exactly what happened.”

BIG-PLAY MEDLOCK: Punter Justin Medlock’s savvy play to knock the ball out of bounds on Ottawa’s four-yard line after an excellent coffin-corner kick served as a major momentum shift in the fourth quarter Friday.

Medlock capitalized on Ottawa returner Ryan Lankford’s indecision to gain possession. Lankford, a former member of the Blue Bombers, was unable to handle the kick, which Medlock said was a combination of his knuckle punt and his boomerang kick.

Chris Streveler scored Winnipeg’s final TD of the game two plays later.

“I knew what was going on in the situation,” Medlock said. “Obviously, the type of ball that I hit at that time is a tough ball to catch. So I felt bad for Lank (that) I had to hit that knuckleball to him. I knew it was going to curve left. As soon as I saw he wasn’t going to catch the ball, I ran down… Obviously, there was a hole, so I was just going for it. I think at that time of the game, I was kinda upset and I was just like, ‘Whatever, I’m going for it. I didn’t really care.’”

NOTEWORTHY: The Blue Bombers have signed Canadian defensive back Dondre Wright to their practice roster. Wright was chosen in the third round (20th overall) by Montreal in the 2017 draft. The 5-10, 210-pounder from Ajax, Ont., played in nine games with the Alouettes last season and registered two special-teams tackles. In 2017, Wright played 18 games with 45 defensive tackles, 12 special-teams tackles and one forced fumble.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @sawa14