Bombers’ draft pick riding roller-coaster of pro football life

Kemari Munier-Bailey is getting the full experience of life as a pro football player.

Early mornings and late nights have become the norm for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie defensive end — who the club traded up to select with the second overall pick in the CFL Global Draft — as he learns a new playbook and adjusts to the new talent he’s facing on the field.

It didn’t take him long to learn what adversity feels like at this level. After participating in the first day of rookie mini camp, Munier-Bailey suffered an undisclosed injury and did not practise in full again for 10 days.

“It’s hard on my body, getting used to all this running again,” said the 6-3, 230-pound pass-rusher.

He called it a hiccup, owing to a heavy travel schedule in recent weeks that took him back home to Birmingham, England, to visit his parents, then to his U.S. home in Utah, before touching down in Winnipeg for camp.

“I feel like when I was out for a little bit, in my heart, I was like, ‘I want to be here,’ but in my mind, I’m like, ‘I might not benefit because I’m not doing anything.’ Well, lucky for me, I got a great coach, Coach (Mike) O’Shea. He talked to me, mentored me. He’s like, ‘It’s okay, just get healthy,’” Munier-Bailey said.

“I feel like that’s probably the greatest transition, with a sense of emotions, development, just understanding of where I’m at. These people actually care about me. Sometimes I feel like (other teams) don’t really care about you, but Coach O’Shea doesn’t make me feel that way at all.”

That’s a prime example of the type of emotional uncertainty that can come with the first week of training camp. Like many first-year players, acclimating to a new culture while balancing the hours of work that’s demanded on and off the field hasn’t come easily to the 23-year-old.

“These people actually care about me. Sometimes I feel like (other teams) don’t really care about you, but Coach O’Shea doesn’t make me feel that way at all.”–Kemari Munier-Bailey

“It has been (an emotional rollercoaster), because Winnipeg is different than where I’m from,” he said. “I had trouble sleeping because my mind was just racing. So many questions like, ‘Am I doing the right thing? Am I where I need to be?’ Praying about everything. This is what I want, this is what I need to do to help my family, to help myself.”

Long before Munier-Bailey was a promising young Blue Bomber, he was a promising prospect as a basketball player on Great Britain’s junior national team.

After moving to Utah for high school, Munier-Bailey continued to stand out on the court for Juan Diego Catholic High School. In his Grade 12 season, he joined his friends on the football field, first as a receiver before quickly changing to defensive end.

A superb campaign earned him a scholarship to Idaho, where he would spend the first two years of college. He spent the next two seasons, respectively, at Fresno State and Weber State, where he started 12 games and received FCS Central All-American Third Team and All-Big Sky second team honours.

“I had the scholarship, I had the attention. I had the scholarships in basketball, too. It’s just football, it’s like something new. If I’m doing good and I just started it, I can only get better from here,” Munier-Bailey said about making the switch from hoops to the gridiron.

It seems that was also the sentiment of the Bombers, who had initially moved to put him on their negotiation list. When they discovered he was eligible for the Global Draft, the club decided he was a talent worth trading up for.

“The difference between Weber State and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is massive. It’s a big difference. So there’s always a lot to learn. He’ll get on track to learn all that stuff. But he certainly does possess a skill set that we like.”–Mike O’Shea

“He got a little nicked up, and he was back on the field today, and then he shows exactly what you like,” O’Shea said. “He’s good getting off the ball, good use of hands, wants to get up field and seems to have that pass rush ability. I think it’s going to be a little bit for him to get in the kind of shape needed, and fix a few things that he’s got to work through, but that, once again, is every young guy coming up here, right?

“The difference between Weber State and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is massive. It’s a big difference. So there’s always a lot to learn. He’ll get on track to learn all that stuff. But he certainly does possess a skill set that we like.”

That Munier-Bailey hasn’t played a lot of football clearly didn’t faze Winnipeg. The athletic traits are outstanding, and the club believes his potential ceiling is something worth chasing.

O’Shea also believes there’s a floor of talent that could allow him to succeed sooner rather than later.

“Once again, I’ll just stress this: most first-year guys come in and there is certain parts of it that are a shock — ‘Oh, this is the way we do it’ — so they have to learn all that, as well as learn the playbook and figure out how they fit, and all those things,” he said. “And sometimes each guy is going to pick all that stuff up at a different pace. So you treat them all differently in terms of trying to figure out who they are and how they learn and how things go, and you try to tailor a plan for each guy specifically.”

Munier-Bailey said his basketball and rugby background have helped him on the field. There’s a crossover with some of the bending movements he performs, which has allowed him to pick up certain techniques quicker.

Also helping him is the open mind he’s carried with him into camp.

“My mindset is just to do the best I can do. Focus on what I can do. And what I can’t do is not what I can’t do, I just can not do it yet. That’s the mindset that I’m going with. Whatever happens, happens, and I feel that’s just a part of the journey,” he said.

Munier-Bailey, who is also Jamaican, talked about how important his heritage remains to him. England, in particular, continues to weigh heavily on his mind throughout this experience, and he hopes to help continue growing American football in the communities he grew up in.

“At the end of the day, I’m doing this, not just for me, but for my community— the people,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids who are playing American football in England now. I’m trying to do that for them and myself, it’s not just a me thing. And people don’t really understand that, or don’t know that, because I don’t really show that or tell people.

“It’s not just about me, it’s about my city, it’s about my country, and it’s about kids in Jamaica, too. I’m really trying to help people. That’s what I’m trying to do when I go in the offseason, help kids get exposed to sports, have the ability to enjoy sports and stuff like that.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca