Suber retiring a Bomber

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This article was published 15/01/2016 (3555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He wasn’t big, but he played big. And he left a giant impression on his Winnipeg Blue Bombers teammates and their fans.

So it seems only fitting that Alex Suber would retire as a member of the Bombers.

The club announced Friday the former defensive back — who started 65 games from 2010 through 2014 when he was traded to the Toronto Argonauts — has signed a one-day contract with the team and is retiring from the game.

“I’ve had a great career,” said Suber Friday from his home in Tampa, Fla. “I just felt it was time. I tried to play every game, every play, at the highest level possible and I’m grateful to walk away pretty much healthy. I’ve had some concussions and the injuries that come with the game, but I’m healthy.

“Retirement… I believe it’s something you know in your heart. I guess I won’t really know until I start seeing those ‘Is it June yet?’ tweets and the season is starting up and I’m watching. I’m a bit emotional about it, but I’m content with my career and interested to see what’s ahead for me.”

A 5-7 dynamo who joined the Bombers in 2010, Suber racked up 226 tackles and picked off three passes — one returned for a touchdown — while adding six fumble recoveries during his days in Blue and Gold. Popular with his teammates and fans, Suber was traded in September of 2014 for defensive end Thaddeus Gibson and finished his career last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In total, he started in 76 CFL games.

The next chapter, he hopes, also involves football. Suber just returned from the American Football Conference Association in San Antonio, Texas, and hopes he can stoke up his connections in the game to land a coaching gig. His brother Allen, a former NFLer with Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Houston, is now the assistant head coach/receivers coach at Alabama State.

“I’ve had a couple interviews and have a few more in the works in the next month or so,” said Suber. “I’m definitely going to get into it. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I feel like I have something I can give back.

“My whole life, even in high school ball, my coaches told me I was too small. I heard it in college and at the pro level. But with my faith in God, my belief in myself and with hard work I always felt I could do whatever I put my mind to. I played with that passion.”

All that’s true. But the Bombers wouldn’t be doing this one-day contract thing if Suber hadn’t made such a big impression on everyone he crossed passed with during his days in Winnipeg. This is more than just a gesture, it’s a sign of respect.

“That organization was good to me since the day I got there,” he said. “I still have friends there. Kyle Walters was good to me when I was there, I’ve got teammates that are still there. I made some amazing friends in that city that will be friends for the rest of my life. Winnipeg was good to me. My best times, best memories were there. I never felt more at home anywhere else.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait