‘The action is the juice’

You can’t think about football 24-7.

Even at this time of year, when it’s hard not to be consumed by the playoff race, it’s important for players to have other interests and hobbies to take their minds off the pressure and stress that comes with playing for a living.

“Always thinking about football gets mentally draining,” said Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Ontaria Wilson after Thursday’s closed practice.

“Being able to remove yourself from that environment and think about something else can relax your mind.”

For halfback Evan Holm, that means challenging his brain in different ways, including learning Japanese. At one point, he was devoting an hour a day to the language through several online learning services while also working with a tutor.

“I always wanted to learn a language, I like anime, and my wife and I went there for our honeymoon,” said Holm.

“It’s something to do for my brain because if you’re bilingual, you’re less likely to have Alzheimer’s and other kinds of things. So I try to use my brain in a way I don’t normally do. It’s really hard, and that’s also kind of fun.”

Holm returned to Japan during the off-season for a month with his wife, Erica, and daughter, Nora, to celebrate her first birthday.

“I do know a pretty decent amount of Japanese. I can get by a little past beginner, I would say,” he said.

That level came after former Bombers and Global players from Japan, Les Maruo and Tomoya Machino, were on the team a few years ago.

“My skills weren’t great then, so it would be nice if I had someone to chat with,” Holm said.

Holm also organizes board game nights with teammates. Blood on the Clocktower, a social deduction game, is one of several he has introduced to the group.

“Redha (Kramdi) is pretty good at being not so good,” Holm said. “He doesn’t like to lie, but he’s really good at figuring out who’s the liar. He’s a good detective.”

Wilson, meanwhile, competes with guys on the team after work through a different avenue.

“As soon as I get home, I try to clear my mind and play video games,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of gamers on the team.”

They frequently go head-to-head in NBA 2K, and according to Wilson, no one is better than linebacker Michael Ayers on the virtual hardwood.

“I wouldn’t say I’m the best, but I’m not the worst either,” Wilson said. “As for my go-to team, I feel like LeBron is an organization, so wherever LeBron’s at, that’s who I play with.”

When Wilson was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2023, he got the chance to play as himself in Madden NFL 24. Despite receiving an overall rating of just 64, he made sure to get his money’s worth.

“I would definitely sub myself in and throw myself every ball,” he said with a laugh. “I probably had four or five touchdowns in a game with 30 or 40 targets.”

For cornerback Major Williams, music has been an outlet since his teenage years. He used to rent studio time with friends, but these days, he turns to an app called BandLab whenever inspiration strikes.

“I haven’t uploaded a song since 2016, but I used to be a SoundCloud rapper. They called me Juiced Down,” Williams said.

“My nickname is Juice, but I go by Major around here. I’m a professional now. And everybody says Major is too good of a name to have a nickname.”

Williams resurrected his musical alter ego during a rookie talent show the Bombers held during training camp.

“I performed one of my songs in front of the team. I don’t let them know that I take it seriously, but they were bopping with it, though,” he said. “I got good reviews.”

Speaking of reviews, guard Gabe Wallace might have a future as a film critic when his playing days are over.

“I just love watching movies. That’s my way of winding down,” Wallace said.

“If I had to guess, I’d say I watch five a week on average. I really like the older movies. Just yesterday, actually, I watched Dracula — the Bram Stoker one with Keanu Reeves where he does a horrible British accent. I don’t know why, but it’s one of my favourite movies.”

Even Dracula doesn’t come close to Wallace’s all-time favourite: Heat, the 1995 crime thriller starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Wallace makes a habit of watching the film before every game.

“Enough that my wife doesn’t watch it with me anymore,” Wallace said when asked how many times he has seen it.

“If you watch Heat and you’re not like, ‘That was a frickin’ awesome movie,’ then you don’t know what it is. Tom Sizemore says in it, ‘The action is the juice.’ Just that line alone gets you fired up.”

Kramdi has earned a reputation as a football junkie who is always in the film room. But even he sinks his teeth into a different passion.

“Me and Stan (Bryant) will laugh that I’ll probably be fat when I’m done playing. I like going out to eat, I enjoy a good meal,” Kramdi said.

He grew up surrounded by good food. His father was a chef, and his late brother Sami was talented in the kitchen, too.

“I was the one eating,” Kramdi said. “I’m a horrible cook.”

He manages to keep his cravings in check during the week, but all bets are off after a game.

“I treat myself. I deserve it after a whole week. I’ll order Popeyes — probably a deluxe chicken spicy sandwich, I switch the fries for a poutine, I get mac n’ cheese, a biscuit, and I get a diet Coke, you know, to try to stay healthy,” Kramdi said with a grin.

“And usually when I order it on Uber, they have two-for-one from Dairy Queen, so I’ll get two snack-sized Blizzards. And then the next day I got to fast because I’m too fat.”

Kramdi will have the opportunity to enjoy some authentic poutine in his hometown this weekend when the Bombers (7-7) visit the Montreal Alouettes (11-3) on Saturday (6 p.m. CT).

“La Banquise is my favourite poutine spot, it’s pretty popular,” Kramdi said. “It’s underrated in Montreal, but a lot of random burger spots have good poutine, too.”

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