1,573 pounds of bad attitude up front

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2010 (5642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If it’s true a football team’s identity is born, fostered and honed by the men who make up the offensive line, then we can offer up this early assessment of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers:

This crew is going to begin the campaign ready to bust open some heads and on the warpath for a little payback.

And it starts with the 1,573 pounds of bad-ass up front.

“There’s just a lot we’ve got to prove this year,” began veteran left guard Brendon LaBatte. “We all got kind of left with a bad taste last season, particularly with the way the last few games went. Teams were celebrating and kind of rubbing it in and it just built a little bit of bad blood and drove us to get better. Now we get our chance to go out and get our payback and we’re looking to take it and finish every play. It’s not that there would ever be a play you didn’t finish, but now there’s going to be an exclamation mark behind everything we do.

“When teams start to make it personal, when they’re up there in your face saying that they ripped your heart out and that sort of stuff… the last thing they’re going to do is break you. But when they say that, well, them’s fighting words.”

The fighting, fittingly enough, begins next Friday in the regular season and home opener against the same team that eliminated the Bombers from the playoff picture a year ago: the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. That’s also the same team that did some rather creative celebrating at the Bombers’ expense in that game, celebrating touchdowns by jumping into the fishing boat set up in the end zone.

And don’t think the Bomber hogs have forgotten.

“We’re going to be there for our skill guys, be there if they ever get in trouble or if anything gets out of line,” said LaBatte. “Our job is also to set the tone, play with an edge and develop an attitude.”

The Bomber O-line has undergone three significant changes since the end of 2009 and through training camp:

— 1. Kelly Butler, the man mountain from Purdue who made 21 starts in the NFL with Detroit and Cleveland, will line up at right tackle;

— 2. Steve Morley moves from left tackle to right guard;

— 3. With Glenn January down for awhile with a torn pectoral muscle, Andre Douglas — another import newcomer who had try outs with Dallas and Tampa last season — will take turns at left tackle. (Depending on the formation and ratio, the Bombers could also play Luke Fritz at right tackle, shifting Butler to left).

The only constants, then, see LaBatte back at left guard and Obby Khan at centre.

“We’re going to have a good offensive line, the best one we’ve had here in years,” said Khan.

“The front five, six, seven, eight guys are all good players. We’ve shifted people around, but it’s good to have everybody know how to play different positions. Our offence will go as far as the offensive line can carry us. We’ve got some guys ready to kick some butt and play with an edge this year. Brendon, Steve, Glenn, Ryan (Donnelly) and myself have played together for awhile and the new guys have brought a real edge.

“We always say it’s won and lost in the edges and our coaches have really stressed that this year, that attitude to get in there and get dirty and push people around. We like that. That’s what we work and live for.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Here’s the beef

A look at the big eaters starting on the Bomber O-line:

LEFT TACKLE

No. 59, Andre Douglas, import

College: Temple.

Born: Sept. 14, 1986

Ht.: 6-4; Wt: 308

CFL experience: rookie

LEFT GUARD

No. 57, Brendon LaBatte, Canadian

College: Regina. Born: Sept. 12, 1986

Ht.: 6-4. Wt: 323

CFL experience: 2 years

CENTRE

No. 60, Obby Khan, Canadian

College: Simon Fraser. Born: Oct. 8, 1980

Ht.: 6-3. Wt: 306

CFL experience: 6 years

RIGHT GUARD

No. 62, Steve Morley, Canadian

College: St. Mary’s. Born: Aug. 18, 1981

Ht.: 6-7. Wt: 306

CFL experience: 6 years

RIGHT TACKLE

No. 68, Kelly Butler, import

College: Purdue. Born: July 24, 1982

Ht.: 6-8. Wt: 330

CFL experience: rookie