Bombers safety proof practice makes perfect

Redha Kramdi didn’t think he belonged in the CFL.

When he was a rookie in 2021, he vividly remembers watching tape of two of the best running backs in the league at the time — Ka’Deem Carey and William Stanback — and doubting whether he belonged on the same field as them.

“I told myself I’d never play in the CFL. The gap between U Sports and professional football is pretty huge,” said Kramdi, who was chosen in the second round, 16th overall, in the 2021 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers out of the University of Montreal.

“I was watching them and was like, ‘This is too fast for me. People are too strong, too physically gifted. And the communication is on a level I’ll never attain in my life.’”

At first, the young defensive back aspired to be nothing more than a reliable special teamer — and there’s no shame in that.

But after checking that box in Year 1, his next goal was to work his way into playing in the odd defensive package.

“After my second year, I think I was like, ‘Yeah, maybe I’m not a starter, but if someone gets injured, I can get in there and help us not lose,’” Kramdi told the Free Press after Tuesday’s practice.

He accomplished that in 2022, and midway through 2023, he established himself as a full-time starter at dimeback.

“Honestly, it’s all thanks to guys like Adam Bighill, Nick Taylor, Deatrick Nichols, and Brandon Alexander. They gave me a lot of confidence before I really even believed in myself. It was hard, honestly, and I had to work a lot, but they really helped me,” said Kramdi, who now plays safety.

“Every question I had, they were sitting down and taking the time to answer it. I was a special teamer, they weren’t obligated to do it, but they did it.”

Kramdi was clearly taking notes. Fast-forward to today, and the 29-year-old is one of the top Canadian talents in the three-down league.

After missing six games with a hand injury, Kramdi returned just in time for the Banjo Bowl and forced two turnovers to help the Bombers to a dominant 19-6 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

When he got back to the locker room, he had a message from one of those former teammates who had once taken him under his wing.

“I’m still in contact with Adam Bighill. He knew I had it in me. I told him, ‘Thank you for everything you did for me.’ And he said, ‘You’re far from done, keep it going,’” said Kramdi.

“He’s a mentor, he’s one call away and he always shoots me texts after games, before games and we talk during the week. He made sure that when we were on the field that I understood why he was telling me to do something. If I could be half the player he was, I’d be more than happy with my career.”

While Kramdi doesn’t have Bighill’s long list of accolades, he has been compared to the future Hall of Famer several times in recent weeks. The most recent person to draw the comparison was defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger on Tuesday.

“(Kramdi) works to understand the game at a higher level than any player I’ve been around,” said Younger.

“Adam Bighill is one of the guys that did that same type of level of work where he’s in the defensive meetings, the extra defensive meetings, and then he goes to the offensive meetings. So, he just works to understand the game at a level that a lot of guys don’t.”

Even though Kramdi didn’t see it, Younger knew right away that he had the tools to become a valuable defender.

“I knew when we drafted him because of the plays he made on film. It was really a matter of the growth — ‘how long would it take for him to catch on?’ What we do is more complex, what the offences do is more complex, and it takes a certain level of humility to understand, ‘OK, even though I’m bright, even though I’m smart, I still have a learning curve to get over,’” said Younger.

“For a lot of Canadian guys, you got to earn your stripes on special teams first. Hats off to him, he embraced that special teams role first… And once the opportunity to play defence came, he never let it go.”

 

Stifling Saskatchewan

Younger had a hunch that his unit was going to make life difficult for Trevor Harris and the Riders.

“It’s not necessarily in my head, it’s what I can get (our defence) to understand,” he said.

“When we sit in a meeting and we talk about, ‘Alright, when they’re in this set, what should we do?’ And you hear everybody go, ‘Boom, boom, boom. Next question.’ And they all know it, now you know you have an opportunity to have that type of game against a good offence.”

Six points is the fewest scored by any CFL team this season.

“Chad Kelly is a very different quarterback from Trevor Harris – style wise, the way he executes the system.”

“You see (Kramdi) gets in the game, and nobody actually moves any different, we just talk a little bit different. We anticipate things a little bit better,” said Younger.

“So, it encourages (young players to think), ‘Oh, if I go learn and spend a little more time studying so I can anticipate these things, I can impact the game the same way.’ So, that’s what you’re hoping is contagious as much as it can be.”

The Bombers’ (7-6) defence has another big test Friday when they host Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts (8-6).

“Different opponent, different strategy. Chad Kelly is a very different quarterback from Trevor Harris — style wise, the way he executes the system,” said Younger.

“I’ve got to try to get them to understand some of his tendencies, what he likes to do, and how to take some of those things away.”

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