Bombers put media through football drills

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2012 (5189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members of the media can make a living criticizing professional athletes for choking in the clutch or not knowing when to pack it in.

Sometimes the criticism is warranted, other times, not so much.

So, imagine Doug Brown’s delight when I asked the recently retired defensive lineman if he would join me at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 2012 Media Skills Challenge.

Never having played football at any time in my life, save for the odd schoolyard game, I thought he could give me a few pointers so I didn’t maim myself and then provide some, um, constructive criticism.

“Evaluate the media doing football drills that always used to evaluate me? That sounds like fun. How harsh and critical can I be?” he said.

When told the harsher, the better, he was in.

When told we had the capability to bleep out any, um, overly-enthusiastic words, he was, well, even more in.

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The Bombers put the media through a number of drills Friday afternoon, including kicking field goals, passing accuracy, long snapping, an obstacle course and running and tacking.

Brown made no apologies for not sugar-coating any of his remarks. Here’s an example.

“You (beepin’) (beep)! You’re a (beepin’) embarrassment to all (beepin’) (beeps)! You make me want to (beep)! (Beep)! Go Team Free Press!”

Through his encouragement — a real players’ coach if there ever was one — I learned that I respond best to threats.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca