‘I want to finish my career there’

A kicker and a punter re-signing with their team typically doesn’t warrant a 30-plus minute Zoom call with reporters.

But that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday in a wide-ranging, engaging and thoroughly entertaining chat with Sergio Castillo and Jamieson Sheahan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The pair of specialists inked extensions with the Blue and Gold — two years for Castillo, one for Sheahan — on Monday.

In typical Castillo fashion, he kicked things off with a memorable one-liner.

“I have the same goal every off-season — get a booty and get abs and I haven’t accomplished either of them going on 12 off-seasons straight.”

In defence of the 35-year-old kicker, life’s been a bit hectic lately as he and his partner Adriana welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Luisa Renata, earlier this month.

“I’ll tell you this, baby was born January 6th and until a couple days ago Adriana’s stomach already has a two-pack and I was like, ‘What am I doing wrong here?!’” said Castillo.

“What have I been doing other than husband-daddy duties? Honestly, not much. Just trying to grow some hair. My wife’s trying to do these remedies where she does this onion juice and puts it on my head — it’s not working. She’s the queen of remedies. If something is wrong, remedy. You wake up in a bad mood, there’s a remedy. There’s a remedy for everything.

“My remedy is a tequila shot.”

Then there’s Sheahan, the 28-year-old Australian, who feels a bit more settled after spending the past two off-seasons living off the grid in a camper van with his wife, Alivia.

“Sorry to rub it in but it’s 20-something degrees and sunny and I’ve spent a lot of time on the beach, which is nice,” said Sheahan with a grin.

“We’re no longer in the van — we actually have a house now… It was a great experience, but nice to be back with running water and four walls again.”

Despite all the twists and turns, the conversation did, however, make its way to why the duo keep coming back to Winnipeg.

Castillo is entering Year 4 in his third stint with the Bombers.

“Winnipeg has been home to me for half of my career — six of the 12 years. Winnipeg is home,” said Castillo.

“I feel homey there and I want to finish my career there. I want to retire there. I’m trying to convince the wifey to move up there but the -30 degrees does not convince her. I love the people there — it reminds me a little bit of Amarillo where people are very friendly, they’re very homey. There’s nothing better than coming back to play with the band, with (special teams) coach Mike Miller, (long snapper) Ian (Leroux), Jams, and obviously Osh (head coach Mike O’Shea).”

Sheahan has been a regular since the club selected him in the 2023 CFL Global Draft.

“The locker room is probably the best culture-environment I’ve ever been in and that’s Australia, the U.S. and Canada now. It’s just such a great place to head into work every day,” said Sheahan.

“It’s the staff, the coaches, it’s all the media guys and the fans are always incredible when they turn up in droves every game with all the sell outs. It’s just such a homely place now. I get to spend the off-season in Santa Barbara but there’s always a part of me that’s itching to get back up to Winnipeg.”

Then, the topic shifted to something much more important than football: the current political climate in the U.S.

Castillo considers himself and his family lucky as they’re situated in northern Texas, far from the U.S.-Mexico border, where there haven’t been many incidents involving ICE. Even then, he’s starting to consider carrying his papers with him to prove that he is a U.S. citizen just in case a situation arises.

“A lot of U.S. Citizens out there, just because their colour, they’re getting attacked, and it’s very unfortunate. It’s very frustrating,” said Castillo.

“Because no one deserves to be treated like that. Definitely it does hit home. Definitely does bring concerns. Now, especially being a father of two, and my wife and I, you can tell, we have cactus on our face. We’re Mexican, hardcore. I do think about it more than I wish I had to.”

It’s another reason why moving to Winnipeg intrigues him.

“Initially it was just because I love Winnipeg,” Castillo said. “It’s not too big, not too small, and I love the community. I really, really do. But, then lately, it’s been a little bit because of that.”

Sheahan, who met his wife during his time at the University of California, is still waiting on his green card.

“Obviously, I am a white man and I don’t have to face what Serge goes through. I am technically an immigrant to the United States. But as we can see, that’s not who they’re targeting,” said Sheahan.

“You’ve got to be careful with what you say, unfortunately, because, you know, anytime you speak out about what’s going on, you know, they might revoke my visa and stuff as such. So, it’s sad and my heart goes out to Serge and, hopefully… we get some change going forward.”

Back to football.

The Bombers had their shortcomings in 2025, but you can’t put the blame on special teams. Castillo churned out another brilliant campaign by going 48-for-56 on three-point attempts, and Sheahan enjoyed a career year with a 47.8-yard average which was the second highest in Blue Bombers history to Jon Ryan’s 50.6-yard punt average in 2005. Then of course, there was Trey Vaval and the electricity he brought as a returner.

“Obviously it’s great consistency for me, Serge, and Ian to come back together and be the same operation. And that’s one less thing I think that the big boss, Osh, doesn’t have to worry about so much,” said Sheahan.

“He can focus on some other areas and just plug and play Serge and I and hopefully we bring that consistent sort of veteran presence in the special teams room.”

LOCAL DT RE-SIGNED

The Bombers re-signed defensive tackle Collin Kornelson to a one-year deal on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Winnipegger and former Manitoba Bisons standout appeared in nine games as a rookie in 2025 and made three defensive tackles.

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