Boys at the back bring some swagger to Blue defence

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/08/2015 (4049 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

YOU need not attend a Winnipeg Blue Bombers practice long before finding out the rowdiest of the bunch usually sits in the back.

It’s a common theme found in many parts of life. In the classroom, the class clowns hang out in the back row. In church, the ones playing hangman on the back of offering cards are in the last sets of pews. On the football field, the ones who talk the most trash hang out in the secondary.

And that’s where you find the likes of Demond Washington, Chris Randle and Matt Bucknor, each making up a quintet of loud voices and amped up aggression and confidence they channel into instruments of war.

Neither one is a qualified conductor, yet, as a group, they orchestrate in a way they feel has an immediate impact on their environment.

“We’ve grown into that niche, it wasn’t always that way,” Randle said. “We like to be vocal, setting a tone. It’s crazy how, as a unit, we can dictate the tempo of a practice or a game depending on how less vocal or less energetic we are. We didn’t know that at first. But when we were wishy-washy, our practices were wishy-washy. When we were non-vocal, no one else was being vocal.

“We took that on ourselves as a unit to be that annoying brother, to set that tempo and energy in practices and games. We’ve grown into that. I can’t put a name to it, but we know we can set a tempo to any game.”

Washington referred to the defensive backs as the “cool kids on the defence.”

The fourth-year CFL vet and former NCAA champion with Auburn said the DBs are like a brotherhood of sorts.

“With our group, every week we try to find something where all of use get in together and do some DB bonding as a unit,” Washington said. “It’s very important for us. Once everyone is on the same page and thinking as one, it’s hard to mess up. We can go a long way with that.”

Washington said there’s a certain amount of swagger defensive backs need to have.

“It comes with confidence, your ability and knowing what you’re doing with your assignments,” Washington said.

And while they do their best to be respectful out on the field, the smack talk at times can be pretty intense.

“We’re all here competing, right?” Bucknor said. “If we can get an edge or an advantage, then so be it. It happens but it’s all fun.”

Randle said he doesn’t want trash talking affecting the game outcome and prefers to keep it civilized and not out of hand. For Washington, however, whatever comes out of his mouth is a product of the moment and often off-colour.

“There is no telling what will come out of my mouth,” he said. “It’s in the moment, and it depends on what the other guy is saying back and depends on what I’m saying. I’ve talked about a guy’s parents and everything.”

At the end of the day, this group of five just wants to be seen and heard.

“What goes unseen goes unnoticed,” Randle said. “When we do something good, we want you to know we did something good. If we didn’t get the ball but locked you down, we want you to know that we locked you down. We want to celebrate it.”

Picard ailing

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BOMBERS head coach Mike O’Shea is hopeful his centre will be able to take the field Saturday when the Bombers host the Calgary Stampeders.

Dominic Picard missed practice Wednesday with what O’Shea categorized as an upper-body ailment. Picard was visiting the doctor’s office while 2014 first-rounder Matthias Goossen took snaps at the position.

O’Shea said he’s hopeful Picard will be in the lineup when the Stampeders come to Investors Group Field on the weekend, but he’ll know more in a couple of days.

Picard practised Sunday and Monday. The Bombers did not practise Tuesday.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.