Blue Bombers mourn what could have been

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This article was published 13/11/2017 (2864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a painful loss to the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL’s West Division semifinal Sunday, the Blue Bombers lamented an opportunity squandered.

“You know how rare it is to keep a team together,” said an emotional Chris Randle, Winnipeg’s veteran cornerback. “We’re more than a team. We’re family, we bonded, and that team, our team, deserved better. It’s unfortunate we came out with an L tonight.”

Rookie receiver L’Damian Washington said the team’s family atmosphere was very real.

“I just feel bad,” said Washington, who finished the game with eight catches and 76 yards. “I feel like I let my teammates down. Just from a standpoint of like (Weston Dressler) and (Clarence Denmark), those are the guys that sit in the room with me. Chris Randle. Guys that have been here for a while. Guys like (injured linebacker) Mo Leggett, Darvin Adams, guys who couldn’t be out there fighting today. Guys like that you go out and fight for. We came up short, you know. Everybody fought hard. That’s all we can do at the end of the day, give it your all.”

Added rookie linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox: “This is one of the first meaningful games I’ve had since high school. In college, we had an average team, nothing special. Being part of this team and going as far as we have, it’s such a great ride. To have it end like this is very disappointing — sad. It’s been just a blessing being part of this organization.”

Another first-year CFLer, defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, said it was hard to consider the future without some of his teammates.

“It’s frustrating because we’ve got a lot of guys in free agency and a lot of guys that might not be here,” said Jeffcoat, adding he hoped the club picks up his option for the 2018 season. “That’s the reality of pro football. That’s frustrating that we had such a good team this year, we might not all be back together.”

But not all was lost with Sunday’s 39-32 loss, closing out a successful 12-6 regular season and a second-place finish in the West.

“Sometimes you’ve gotta have a setback to come back well, to learn,” Washington said.

“I learned that everything isn’t always a fairy-tale ending. Sometimes you’ve gotta take some bumps and bruises to get it all ironed out at the end.

“This isn’t something that’s permanent. You learn from it, you build from it. You come back and you come back better. You’ve always gotta be resilient and always remember and forget at the same time. You remember what this feeling is. That way, next year, we know what that feeling is and we just fight.”

Washington, who played seven regular-season games but spent much of the year on the practice roster, admitted his rookie year was difficult — but he persevered. And his story was inspirational. After the murder of his father when he was five and the death of his mother when he was 15, he had worked hard to support three brothers while playing football and getting his education at the University of Missouri.

“I learned a lot about myself, especially,” Washington said. “It was a tough year for me, a lot of ups and downs. At times, I wanted to go home. I wanted to quit. There’s no quit in a champion, there’s no quit in this team. I learned a lot about this team because they kept me going. That’s why this team is such a family. That’s why it’s just so hard to end it like this because I gave up on myself, but the coaches and my teammates didn’t give up on me.”

Taking the pay cut after being assigned to Winnipeg’s practice roster didn’t help.

“Financially, I was sinking just being here,” Washington said. “Am I helping my family or am I hurting them by just being here? Of course, they just wanted to see me play… I was in a bad spot for a while and I talked to coach (Mike) O’Shea multiple times and he just said, ‘Stick with it, kid.’”

While Washington was uncertain about what the future holds, Jeffcoat was already thinking about next season.

“(I’m) back to work,” Jeffcoat said. “I know how the CFL is now. I know how much running I gotta do. I know how much lifting I’ve gotta do. I’m going to put in some good work.”

Did he have a clear idea of what his potential might be?

“I don’t know yet,” Jeffcoat said. “I feel like I can come back and have a better season than year. I hope they double-team me, I hope they try to chip me. I hope that happens because we’ve got another end that’s gonna free up. They can’t block us both.”

Rookie defensive back Brandon Alexander said off-season improvements are imperative.

“Now we have no choice,” Alexander said. “We can’t go back out there and do it again. Now is time to get back together, make sure everyone is OK, and it’s time to work. Just because the season’s over doesn’t mean that the season’s over. We’ve got a lot of things we can build off, especially for next year. There’s nothing we can do now, we’ve gotta go back and train.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14