Bombers’ Hefney built for fun

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This article was published 13/11/2009 (6112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He is like a jolt of lightning, an injection of caffeine and a sugar high all wrapped up in a walking, talking hit machine. And it’s a day-long deal for Jonathan Hefney from the time he steps out of bed until the moment his head hits the pillow at night.

Heck, the Winnipeg Blue Bomber defensive back — named the East Division Most Outstanding Rookie on Thursday — makes the Energizer Bunny look positively sloth-like.

“Having fun… that just comes natural to me,” said Hefney. “I wake up in the morning, man, and I play my music to get me going and Jovon (Johnson, his roommate) will ask me, ‘Why are you always wired?’ My mom’s fun, my whole family, I have fun around them. I just think, ‘Why not bring that to the football field?'”

Hefney did that from the first day of Bomber rookie camp back in late May. A former star at the University of Tennessee, he came north to Canada after spending a year with the Philadelphia Eagles on their practice roster. Not only did the 24-year-old crack the roster, he started all 18 games for the Bombers at the inside halfback spot — arguably the toughest job in the defence — and totalled 66 defensive tackles, picked off four passes while adding five special-teams tackles.

“My goal when I first got here from the very beginning was to make an impact, whether that was on special teams or just being on the practice roster,” Hefney said. “When I was in Philly I left thinking I had been screwed over in the draft so I had to take on a whole different mentality. I had to stop complaining and make the best of what I had. Once I got the chance to start I wasn’t going to let that go because I was too hungry. I still am.

“I love the game. Just being excited about everything on the field… that’s what I found again up here. It wasn’t like that when I was in the NFL for that year. It’s like when I was in Tennessee and it’s a lot of fun.

“I was talking to my dad when I got a text from Jovon and he told me. I was like, ‘Dad, I just got nominated for rookie of the year on the East side and now I’m going up for the full thing.’ He said, ‘See, I told you’ and gave me a little speech. And then I called my mom right away and didn’t tell her my dad found out first because she would have been mad about it.”

Hefney’s competition for Most Outstanding Rookie is B.C. Lions running back Martel Mallett, who finished fourth in the CFL in rushing with 1,240 yards and six TDs. Hefney, named Wednesday to the CFL East Division All-Star Team, is the only Bomber nominee to advance to the final round of voting, which will be conducted by members of The Football Reporters of Canada, the eight CFL head coaches and fans.

Jovon Johnson (Most Oustanding Player, Most Outstanding Special Teams); Doug Brown (defence and Canadian) and Brendon LaBatte (offensive linemen) were all edged out by nominees from the Montreal Alouettes. QB Anthony Calvillo is up against Calgary Stampeders running back Joffrey Reynolds for the Most Outstanding Player Award; slotback Ben Cahoon is nominated against Lions defensive end Ricky Foley for the top Canadian; return man Larry Taylor is the East’s top special-teams player and faces Lions linebacker/kick-cover specialist Jason Arakgi while Scott Flory is up against Stampeders tackle Ben Archibald for the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award.

The overall winners will be announced Thursday, Nov. 26 during Grey Cup week in Calgary.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca