R-E-S-P-E-C-T

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This article was published 20/09/2016 (3361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s an old adage that suggests respect is earned. Head coach Mike O’Shea and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers don’t care for that particular adage.

O’Shea dismissed the notion altogether when asked about it Tuesday afternoon in his post-practice get-together with the media.

“To be honest, I’ve never even thought about that question,” the third-year CFL head coach said when asked if his team feels it’s attained the respect that comes with a seven-game win streak. “I don’t think that has any relevance to what we do. We know what we do inside our room. We know who we are. You look at the film as a team and you know how you won and how you lost. For me, it’s irrelevant.”

Relevance was split in the locker room Tuesday — something not unexpected in a confined spaced filled with 60 or so men sporting 60 or so separate opinions on the matter.

Through the team’s current run of form, linebacker Maurice Leggett has been steady on how the league, its pundits, and fans view the Blue Bombers (8-4), who next face the league-leading Stampeders (10-1-1) Saturday in Calgary.

“We don’t have it,” Leggett said, referring to respect. “We’re just Winnipeg. Teams just think we are on fire right now and they’re saying that we’ll eventually die down.”

Rival players and analysts covering the CFL don’t pay credence to the club just yet, he said.

When will it happen? Ultimately, Leggett doesn’t care.

“We just want to play,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to us. We’re still hungry. We haven’t won a Grey Cup. We’re never satisfied in here. Once we win a Grey Cup, we’ll celebrate, and then we’ll come back in here — we’ll want another one.”

Linebacker Tony Burnett thinks the Bombers can benefit from any perceived lack of respect. 

A former standout at the University of Southern California and now a CFL starter (with Ian Wild sidelined), Burnett feels haters are always going to hate. The simple fact, he said, is the Bombers needn’t look to others for approval.

“Let them, think whatever they want,” he said. “Maybe it’s better for us. Maybe when we beat them, then they’ll understand we’re for real.

“We need to stay about our game. Those are the types of things that people throw at you to try and get you away from your game. We’re like, ‘Naw, let’s stick together and continue doing what we do.’”

Meanwhile, the Bombers bolstered their practice roster ranks by five Tuesday morning. 

Invoking their 30-day practice roster expansion, the Blue Bombers added receiver Lonnie Outlaw, defensive back Keith Lewis, defensive tackles Brandon Williams and Erik Williams, and quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. 

Each CFL club is afforded the opportunity to expand once per season, usually starting in September, coinciding with final roster cuts in the NFL. 

Among the signings, notables include 6-6, 220-pound receiver Outlaw and strong-armed pivot Bethel-Thompson, who was among the final cuts by the Philadelphia Eagles. 

“To a man, they’re all guys our scouting department and (general manager Kyle Walters) have pegged or been after for a bit,” O’Shea said. “They all offer some qualities we see that could fit onto our team, into our systems. They’ve all been pegged as guys over the course of time, some of them for a long time and some fairly recently that we’ve seen in a workout.

“It’s good, they come in and get a sense for the game and the size of the field.”

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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