Late recruit making big impact at Bombers camp

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/06/2017 (3038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT was only weeks ago that Matt Smalley was out of a job and looking for a new career outside of football. Smalley, 23, had just been released from the B.C. Lions rookie camp, and when the phone wasn’t ringing, he started to do what every young athlete dreads: he began searching for a desk job.

“I got one offer and a couple other interviews, but football is my love, so as soon as they (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) called me I dropped everything,” said Smalley, who in four years at Lafayette College earned a degree in computer science.

On the phone was Ted Goveia, the Bombers’ assistant general manager and director of player personnel, with a chance to return to the field. Goveia asked Smalley if he could get to Winnipeg the next day, so the Philadelphia native hopped on the next flight and was wearing blue and gold a day later. His first practice was Monday, close to two weeks after most players reported to camp, but the adjustment has gone well.

“When you come a week and a half late you have to apply that much more,” Smalley said. “I stay up late sometimes studying my playbook. I got pictures on my phone for when I don’t have my playbook, always quizzing myself. I’m always watching, I’m always looking at my playbook and learning as best I can.”

Despite starting late, Smalley has stood out in his first few days of practice. He’s taken reps as a kickoff/punt returner and been placed at nearly every position in the team’s secondary. On Wednesday, he intercepted a throw by Matt Nichols, just one example of how quickly he’s been able to adjust.

“First, he’s smart. He’s only been here for a short time and being up in the board(room) he knows more than some of the vets that have been here for the last couple years,” said Bombers defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall. “He’s very confident and when we put him out there — we’ve put him at safety, we’ve put him at the inside position, the outside position — it doesn’t seem to faze him.

“When you know it mentally upstairs, then you can play fast when you come on the field and that’s what he’s shown. Even though he’s only been here a few days it’s hard to believe that because it feels like he’s been here the last few weeks.”

It’s tough to suggest at this point where Smalley will fit in among a strong stable of defensive backs. The Bombers led the CFL in takeaways in 2016, including an impressive 30 interceptions, but if Winnipeg has learned anything from last year, a season where they suffered a number of injuries in the secondary, it’s the importance of having solid depth.

Though Smalley may fit that role, he also knows a few strong practices won’t lead to a roster spot. Like everyone at camp, he’ll have to prove himself in a game. He’ll get the chance to do that Saturday when the Bombers travel to Regina to take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium.

Anything to stay on the field and away from an office.

“At that time I was training and applying (for jobs) and there’s a bunch of things running through my head,” Smalley said. “It’s kind of a tough time, but once you get that opportunity you just have to go at it full speed.”

Pick City

There are plenty of battles that unfold in training camp, but the most heated come during the 12-on-12 drills between the defence and offence. It’s these game-simulated situations where both sides of the ball get a chance to flash their playmaking ability and trash-talking skills, with a winner declared by which side of the ball finishes with the most plays against the other.

It’s been the offence that has had the upper hand most days in camp, but the defence bounced back in a major way Wednesday. When all was said and done, the defence recorded six interceptions, picking off nearly every Bombers pivot, including backup quarterback Dan LeFevour, who was responsible for three of the picks.

It can be an enjoyable sight at times, watching players exchange physical and verbal blows, but for coaches, those battles leave the entire team looking like winners.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“It kind of goes back and forth. The whole thing is that we’re a football team. There’s going to be times that the offence carries us and times that we got to carry the offence,” Hall said. “At the end of the day, it’s the Winnipeg Blue Bombers out there competing and it’s our jobs, when we go through practice, to make each other better.”

Blue and Gold Blackout

When the Bombers open the pre-season against the Riders, fans won’t be able to catch the action on TV; nor will the game against Edmonton next week at Investors Group Field be available for viewing. TSN, which has the exclusive television broadcasting rights of the CFL, will only air four games — two games each week — on the exhibition schedule, with Winnipeg and the Toronto Argonauts the only two clubs that will not be showcased.

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.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.