Locker-room forgives Simpson

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This article was published 08/10/2009 (5843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Barrin SIMPSON was back at his old stomping grounds on Wednesday — manning the middle of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence and taking up his customary spot in the locker-room.

And, outwardly at least, it looks like any friction that may have been caused by his trade demands and defection last month has been forgotten after he came clean with a statement and apology to his teammates prior to taking the practice field. Bombers head coach Mike Kelly met with Simpson Wednesday morning after discussions to reach a resolution were instigated by his agent Mark Maren and director of player personnel John Murphy late Tuesday night.

Kelly and the coaching staff discussed the matter with the team and then left the room so that Simpson and the players could discuss or debate his return.

"He had to do some apologizing, which was man of him," said fellow linebacker Ike Charlton. "I’m glad he’s back. He’s a friend of mine, we’ve been locker mates for awhile so we’ll see how it goes.

"He apologized basically to himself. We talked as a team at the beginning of practice and we’ll leave it in the locker-room. It was positive, there was nothing negative and everybody in the locker-room opened up their arms to welcome him because we know what the real situation was. A lot of people on the outside don’t really know what was actually said, but we know and we’re just going to move on and keep going. We love to have him and we need everybody right now."

And that’s the key here. Fact is, while there may have been some grumbling about Simpson’s return — walking out is a cardinal sin in any locker-room — the players also see an opportunity in front of them. And with Joe Lobendahn (hamstring) on the mend and potentially unavailable for Monday’s second-place showdown with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the locker-room can be pretty forgiving if the player makes them better and can play a role in a victory.

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Simpson, a six-time CFL all-star, still leads the Bombers with 58 tackles despite missing the last four games due to his differences with the team. Not many teams, in other words, can replace a starter with a player of that calibre.

"I love it," said Terrence Edwards. "I think it’s great.

"What he did, that was his choice, but nobody was calling him a quitter or anything. Was it the way everybody would have handled it? Probably not. But he’s here and he’s going to help us win games."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca