Bass ‘a treat to watch’: O’Shea

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This article was published 05/06/2016 (3392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Khalil Bass was told a lot of things during a three-year span he spent trying to crack a roster in the Canadian Football League.

Sometimes it was his size – too big, too small. Other times he didn’t fit into the scheme. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers told him they liked him, but ultimately – under former defensive coordinator Gary Etcheverry – he was a surplus to requirements.

In fact, Bass tried on three separate occasions to garner a camp invite. He’d attend one of the club’s open workouts, hoping for a contract and a plane ticket with YWG stamped as the destination. No luck.

“Every time they told me something, every time I didn’t get an invite, I’d go back to training and get better and better,” Bass said after Day 8 of training camp. “Within that span of three years, I completely changed who I was (as a football player).

Bass hypothesizes that, perhaps, it wasn’t his time. But his time would come.

Bass’ invite drought ended prior to the 2015 season when the Bombers, now under Richie Hall’s defensive tutelage, gave him a shot and the Encino, California native ran with it.

Bass, with a slight point to prove, put up 102 tackles in his rookie season last year, trailing only the likes of top name linebackers in Adam Bighill, Winston Venable and fellow hotshot rookie, Jeff Knox Jr.

“For me, I was just appreciative to be here, to be back on a team,” Bass said. “I wish we got more wins, but this year we will turn that around. It was just good for me to be back on a team again.”

Bass doesn’t let the numbers get in the way of what matters most to him. A good linebacker is involved in as many plays as possible, but Bass would like the defense to be on the field a whole lot less this year. If that comes with decreased ticks in the tackle column, so be it. Winning is what he craves most.

“As long as there are more wins, it’s fine with me,” he said.

That’s music to the ears of head coach Mike O’Shea, who believes Bass will be a better football player this year. In training camp this season, O’Shea has seen a man not wasting any steps.

“He’s a treat to watch,” he said. “Khalil Bass was out of football for a number of years. Just persevering, always trying to get that opportunity – he made good with the one he got. I expect him to be better. He’s still hungry. He still takes notes. He’s still very attentive in meetings. He’s still very, very serious about the game of football. It’s not like he thinks he’s arrived. He cherishes this because he knows what he went through to get this.”

The Bombers are flush with talent at linebacker this year with the likes of veteran stalwarts Maurice Leggett, Ian Wild, Sam Hurl, Teague Sherman and rookies Kyle Knox, John Rush. Sprinkle in Garrett Waggoner, Jesse Briggs and others and O’Shea has some decisions to make.

He joked on Sunday that the team was petitioning the league to add six more rosters spots, a move that would allow them to keep them all.

O’Shea’s fondness for the position he played as a player is evident, but he seems genuinely excited by what he’s seen so far.

“Each one of those guys, to a man, can make plays and make your team better,” he said.

O’Shea will get a chance Wednesday to give his linebackers a lot of looks in their first preseason game against the Alouettes. O’Shea didn’t rule out a linebacker rotation when quizzed last week. And if it helps the team, Bass wouldn’t either.

“I’m just working to be reliable,” he said. “If I’m on the field, good. If I’m not, I’m not. I just want to win.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

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