James named to blue ring of honour

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This article was published 18/07/2016 (3368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gerry James, a former running back and kicker with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 1950s and ‘60s, will be the third inductee into the Ring of Honour, the team announced Monday.

James, who joined the Bombers in 1952 as a 17-year-old, appeared in six Grey Cup games with the Blue and Gold, winning in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962. He also played in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Gerry James was a phenomenal athlete that excelled not only in the Canadian Football League as both a running back and a kicker, but also played five seasons in the National Hockey League while also in the CFL,” Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller said in a release. “That kind of athleticism has remained unsurpassed, and we are thrilled to be able to add Kid Dynamite, as he was known, into the Ring of Honour.”

James was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian in 1954 and 1957 and was twice named a West Division all-star. He retired from football in 1964. At the time, he finished as the second-leading rusher among Canadian tailbacks with 5,554 yards. His 63 touchdowns still ranks fourth on the Bombers’ all-time list.

“It’s a great honour in the fact that I’ve been away from the game for so long,” said James, 81, also in a release. “To be thought of for this new Ring of Honour so early in its inception is just a wonderful feeling, knowing that people feel I made some sort of a small impact on the football club.”

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It turned out to be the deciding play in last week’s 20-16 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. Mike Reilly hit receiver Derel Walker with a strike up the right side, with Walker waltzing 74 yards for the touchdown. Bombers defensive back C.J. Roberts, who was covering Walker on the play, had this to say about it following practice Monday.

“I’ll say it was a little miscommunication on my end. I probably should have stayed a little deeper,” said Roberts. “They dialled up a good offensive play against the set we were in and they capitalized. That happens in the game. It just stuck out a little more because it was an important part of the ball game. Things happen.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea said after the game he couldn’t comment on the play, saying he needed to see the film before making any kind of evaluation. On Monday, he said he liked what he saw from Roberts in his first CFL start. As for the play, O’Shea said he felt Roberts had stopped moving his feet after making initial contact with the receiver.

“There’s plays that every player wants to have back,” he said. “That’s his, probably.”

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With preparation shifting to Thursday’s game against the Calgary Stampeders, O’Shea was asked what the key will be to stopping Calgary running back Jerome Messam, who torched the Bombers for 137 yards on 16 carries in a 36-22 victory in Week 2.

“We certainly allowed ourselves to get held, we didn’t swarm like we should have and like we can… therefore you’re not getting tackling,” said O’Shea. “It’s all well and good to say the first guy is going to bring him down and that’s what these guys are aiming for but you’d really like to see more than one tackler there every time you face a 245-pound tailback.”

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As important as it will be to stop the Stamps’ run game this week, it’s equally important the Bombers get their ground game in order. The Bombers rushed for 108 yards in the season-opener against Montreal, but have since averaged 54 yards in the three games since.

“The run game needs to be better,” said tailback Andrew Harris. “And it starts with the five guys that block and then it ends with me.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @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.

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