Blue and Gold dynasty confirmed Bombers’ greats Brown, Poplawski, Walby say the hype is real By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 5:56 PM CST Friday, Nov. 15, 2024

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This article was published 15/11/2024 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ask a few of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ all-time greats, and there is no debate anymore.

This era of the Blue and Gold is a dynasty.

Doug Brown, Chris Walby and Joe Poplawski are far removed from their playing days but have kept close tabs on their former club.

This season was no exception, as they followed Winnipeg’s unlikely run to Sunday’s Grey Cup against the Toronto Argonauts, becoming the fourth team in CFL history to reach the championship game in five straight seasons, joining the Edmonton (six from 1977-82), Hamilton (1961-65) and Regina (1928-32) franchises.

A win this weekend yields a third Grey Cup during this stretch. A loss means the club will have fallen short three years in a row.

“I think the debate may rage on if they lose this Grey Cup, but if they win, they go three-for-five, I think without question they are a historic Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team, one for the ages, and they might have to rename the Golden Era as to what is happening right now,” said Brown, a former defensive end who does colour commentary for 680 CJOB during games.

Walby and Poplawski maintained the outcome of Sunday’s game is inconsequential to the team’s status.

“I think anytime you go to the Grey Cup five years in row, I think you have to be considered one of the top teams,” said Walby, who is widely regarded as one of the best offensive linemen in league history.

Former receiver Poplawski added: “You know, dynasty is a pretty powerful word. However, you would have to say that it’s an outstanding achievement and an outstanding accomplishment and dynasty has to be brought into that conversation.”

Each of the Canadian Football Hall of Famers has played in a championship game — Walby won three and Poplawski hoisted the Grey Cup once — so they understand what it has taken for the Bombers to reach the final weekend yet again, and the adversity the team has faced along the way.

Despite that experience, even they couldn’t help but let a little doubt creep in when Winnipeg started the season 0-4 and 2-6. Their level of concern varied.

“I was surprised … and, to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to climb out of the hole that they had dug. So, maybe I’m a typical fan here, and that level-headedness has gone out the window a few years ago,” said Poplawski.

Brown admitted that he, like many fans and pundits, wrote the team off completely.

“Even at 2-6, we were like, ‘Wow, this is demonstrably a very different football team,’” he said. “We honestly were convinced at that 0-4 start, that 2-6 point, this is where it all ends.”

“When you’re 0-4 and 2-6,” Walby said, “I noticed that all the therapy shops were overloaded with people breaking their ankles from jumping off the bandwagon.

“Was I worried? Yeah, I guess a little doubt had crept in my head when they started 2-6, but then they started playing again and I watched the way this team got stronger.”

The Bombers have been lauded for their continuity and the front office’s ability to maintain the same nucleus of players and coaches during these five years.

That looked a bit different this off-season. On the coaching staff, Jordan Younger took over as defensive co-ordinator and Mike Miller assumed the role of special teams coordinator. On the field, the team got younger in several areas as some players received pay raises and the club was forced to part with other veterans due to the salary cap.

Brown marked Winnipeg’s 25-0 win over the B.C. Lions in Week 9 as the turning point for his belief in the team.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this is what they’re capable of,’” he said.

The Bombers proceeded to win 10 of their next 11 contests after their nightmare start, including a dominant showing over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western final that punched their ticket to the Grey Cup.

“It’s an incredible, historic turnaround — really one for the ages — that they believed in themselves when I don’t think anyone outside of that organization saw or thought that they were capable of doing what they were doing with the roster changes they had,” Brown said.

“It’s still unprecedented what they’ve done.”–Doug Brown

“When you just think about how (head coach) Mike O’Shea handles everything,” added Poplawski, “you knew that there was a plan in place, and we’re just going to stick with it, and the results will eventually come. And certainly, they did.

“They’re a true replica of the coaches, and I think the proof is now being shown.”

While Walby predicted a Bombers win on Sunday, as a parting thought, each player spoke about the possibility of Winnipeg losing a third straight championship and what ramifications that could have on an organization that will host next season’s Grey Cup.

Would a loss warrant a significant change to the nucleus that the Bombers have worked so hard to build, despite the big game returning to the Manitoba capital for the first time in a decade?

“This is the CFL, and there’s so many individuals on one-year contracts, there’s always going to be changes. But looking at the team and saying, ‘No, we got to clean off the chalkboard and start all over again,’ not a chance,” said Poplawski.

“I don’t,” Brown echoed. “It’s still unprecedented what they’ve done.

“Obviously, it would be something that is debated — it wouldn’t be as clear cut as a victory to say that this team is all-time historic and a dynasty for this franchise, but either way, if you’re the first or second-best team five years running in any league, I think that’s a hell of a feather in your cap.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam

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Joshua Frey-Sam
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Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh 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.