BlueBombers.com Staff

WINNIPEG -- Bright sunny skies greeted the players and coaches as they stepped outside this morning for the 7:45 a.m. practice, as usual, the first of two in the day. Today is the final practices before the Blue and Gold game tomorrow night (6:30 p.m) at Canad Inns Stadium.

One of the new additions to the Bomber secondary is a man fans here in Winnipeg are very familiar with – a guy they probably wish they had never heard of. James Johnson came over in a trade with the Riders during the offseason, the same James Johnson who picked off Ryan Dinwiddie three times in the 2007 Grey Cup game on route to a Riders championship. The product of Los Angeles says the green and white days are behind him, and he’s looking forward to his fourth season in the CFL, first with the blue and gold.

“I’m excited, very excited. I’m excited about being able to play, still having a job,” Johnson said. “It was a business thing that happened over there (Saskatchewan), and now I’m here, a Blue Bomber and excited about it.”

Johnson was a little surprised about the trade, but the cornerback says it’s all part of the business.

“Hey, there’s only eight team’s here, so sometimes changes are made. At first I was surprised, just surprised that it was actually happening”

As for the 2007 Grey Cup, where he took home the MVP award for his three picks, Johnson said it was a night he’ll never forget.

“Oh yeah,” Johnson said smiling. “So far, it was my best game as a pro.”

There has been much debate over whether or not the ball hit the ground on the first interception. The play was a major turning point, with the Bomber leading 7-0 and Johnson returning the apparent pick for a touchdown. So now he’s a Bomber, did that ball actually hit the turf James?

“I don’t know, I’ve seen what people have said but I didn’t feel it hit the ground”. “It went in the stat book as an interception, I felt I caught it clean.”

As for his role on this team this season, Johnson says he brings a wealth of experience.

“Yeah that’s a for sure. I’ve been trying to do that with the young guys since I got here, trying to get them to understand the wider field and understand what offences are trying to do.”

Bomber director of player personnel John Murphy traded for James Johnson in February, and was very pleased to land an experienced cornerback, with a championship under his belt. Murphy echoed Johnson’s claim to helping the younger guys.

“We were real excited to acquire James. I think all Bomber fans would rather have him intercepting balls for us rather than the Riders. He brings great experience, a guy that’s played and won the Grey Cup.”

“He’s got great leadership. He’s not a guy that’s had an easy road to pro football. He’s a guy that will fight you for the ball, fight you to make the tackle, he’s exactly the type of guy you want back there in your secondary.”

Thoughts from Thursday’s practices:

- Newcomer Richie Williams had a great day of practice, finding receivers and being on target on almost every pass.

- Darrius Battles had a great day as well, knocking down a couple of passes thrown to his side.

- Keyuo Craver picked off a pass during the first practice, and drew loud cheers from the defensive sidelines

- The special teams were practicing kickoffs today, with both Serna and Pierson taking turns.

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Player of the day: Jonathan Hefney (DB- #45)

Although a lot of players stood out today, Hefney stood out in the defensive backfield today. We’ll also give second star honours to Keyuo Craver and Barrin Simpson, both had great day’s of practice.