Blue laugh off all-star SNAFU

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This article was published 04/11/2022 (1294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jermarcus Hardrick, Winston Rose, and Donald Rutledge, Jr. were among the 11 members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers named to the CFL’s West Division all-star team Wednesday morning.

Later that day, Hardrick, Rose, and Rutledge could no longer call themselves all-stars. It turns out the CFL calculated the votes incorrectly, forcing the league to make 19 changes to the division teams. The updated list did not include Hardrick, Rose and Rutledge Jr.

What a mess.

“No hard feelings. It was a mistake,” said Hardrick after Friday’s closed practice at IG Field. The Bombers are preparing for Nov. 13 when they host the winner of Sunday’s West semi-final between the Calgary Stampeders and B.C. Lions.

“I’m not an all-star and I shouldn’t have a reason to be mad.”

It was obvious that something went wrong, as the original results were a disaster. The Stampeders gave up the fewest sacks (17, which is 12 fewer than the Bombers) and have the best running game in the league, but somehow didn’t have a single offensive lineman recognized. In the end, three members of their O-line made the cut, leading to Hardrick, the Bombers starting right tackle, losing his spot.

Naming Rutledge made no sense as the rookie lost his starting job at dimeback to Alden Darby, Jr. and is currently on the practice roster. Rose was just as big a head-scratcher as the defensive back has given up a lot of big plays and has only three interceptions — the fewest he’s had in a full season.

Rose admitted he was surprised to see his name in the first place. He doesn’t feel like he’s had an all-star campaign, but either way, he feels there are more important things than worrying about getting enough votes from coaches, media, and fans to make the team.

“The last two years, we’ve been champions. You’d rather be a champion than an all-star,” said Rose, a league all-star in 2019. “You see some players get named all-stars, but then, they don’t make the playoffs. What would you rather have? Your value goes up more when you’re a champion than an all-star.”

Bombers receiver Nic Demski was the lone member of the Blue and Gold added to the list after the recount. The Bombers ended up with nine all-stars (Demski, Zach Collaros, Dalton Schoen, Stanley Bryant, Patrick Neufeld, Willie Jefferson, Adam Bighill, Deatrick Nichols, and Janarion Grant).

The Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats had the most with 11 each.

Demski had a career-year with highs across the board — 64 catches, 772 receiving yard, and 10 touchdowns in 13 games.

“When I saw the list got released, I was happy for a lot of players around the league. It did kind of look a little weird, not going to lie. But to me, it was a quick flush. I was ready to move on,” said Demski.

“The only thing that I have on my mind is to win this Grey Cup and that starts next Sunday. That’s where my mind was at. Obviously, it feels good to be named an all-star, but at the end of the day, it’s not what I play for.”

Bighill was seen as a controversial pick in some eyes. He edged out Saskatchewan’s Darnell Sankey, as well as Calgary’s Jameer Thurman and Cameron Judge. Sankey leads the CFL with 120 tackles and Judge has a league-high five fumble recoveries. Thurman recorded three interceptions and two forced fumbles.

“I didn’t rush as much this year and I played more safety, more coverage. So, I mean, stats aren’t always a great indicator of exactly how well someone has played,” said Bighill, who had 72 tackles, two sacks, and an interception this year.

“In fact, sometimes when you have a lot of tackles, you get asked why. It doesn’t mean it was bad or not… But regardless, I’m happy with how I played. Whether I made plays on the stat sheet, … I mean, there were a lot of balls that weren’t thrown because I was in places that (forced the quarterback) to go elsewhere.”

Bighill, the team’s CFLPA representative and now an eight-time West all-star, said the league’s calculating error was extremely disappointing, but outside of that, players generally have no issue with the all-star process.

“I think the process has worked well over the years. There’s always been talk if the East Coast reporters are voting, are they seeing all the people on the West Coast play because of the time difference? You just hope that everyone that does have a vote does do the work that it takes and the responsibility that it takes to accurately vote,” said Bighill.

“That’s the one thing you can hope for and I think it’s been working.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31