Dave Darichuk/Blue Bombers
There’s an undeniable energy about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence on the field right now. It’s not easy to make Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo look like, well, not-Anthony Calvillo.
It’s not easy to keep the minds and bodies of players working through 40 possessions in two games, as Winnipeg has done, or to successfully slot a rookie into the starting line in Week 2.
At the very least, checking in to the team hotel in Guelph on Friday afternoon looks easy enough.
The Blue Bombers will seek their second-straight road victory on Saturday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who blanked Winnipeg in the pre-season. This time, the Blue Bombers’ defensive wildfire will be much harder to extinguish.
“I’m excited about the effort our guys are playing with. They’re running to the ball well, and they’re playing assignment-sharp football. What I always tell defences is, the issue is us – it’s not what the offence is doing to us,” said Bombers’ defensive coordinator, Casey Creehan.
Creehan and Head Coach Tim Burke have done this before, working the defensive corps in Calgary and Montreal together in 2007 and 2008. Creehan attributes believing in the same philosophies and the process leads to a great working relationship with Burke. Paired with the other defensive heads in Will Plemons and Carl Franks, they’ve guided a Winnipeg defence that has held opponents to a league-low 49 points in two weeks of play.
“If we’re able to do the things that we’re supposed to do in a particular defence that’s called, we’re going to have success. If we start ad-libbing and trying to do our own things, we’re going to struggle.”
The exception to the ad-lib rule is Zach Anderson. His trek to Guelph on Saturday as a starter has been a long process.
As a Division II athlete at Northern Michigan University, getting noticed was a grind. After Anderson earned the Defensive MVP nod at the National Bowl, he was invited to combines across the United States, looking for an opportunity among the best players in the country.
Talks didn’t turn into anything definitive with an NFL team, and the Michigan-native was released from rookie camp with the Cleveland Browns. As it turned out, the right door was a stone’s throw from his doorstep in Sault Ste. Marie (the American one), to a shot with Winnipeg.
Hall of Famer and fellow Northern Michigan alum Bobby Jurasin shared the ins and outs of the Canadian game with Anderson. Jurasin’s storied career began with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and he collected the team’s Most Outstanding Rookie honour two years before Anderson was born.
When Bombers’ General Manager Joe Mack called just after Anderson was released from the Browns, he was ready. Starting in a game at the beginning of July wasn’t in the script.
“It happened so quick, I didn’t expect it. I knew it was going to be a long process; first, I’ve got to make the team, I’ve got to make a roster spot. I’ve got to prove myself,” the 24-year-old rookie said. “When JT (Gilmore) went down in the first week, my name was called…I had big shoes to fill, it put some pressure on me, but it was my opportunity to show everyone that I can play at this level.”
Watching football isn’t typically how Independence Day is celebrated across the border, but at the annual Anderson family party for the Fourth of July, a big screen was set up to watch Zach’s pro starting debut. He recorded two sacks in the 19-11 effort that had the Montreal Alouettes and veteran QB Calvillo stifled to just 121 yards.
“The different stunts we were doing were confusing the whole (Montreal) line. We knew their whole line was adjusting to a new scheme, with our twists and turns, we had them looking left and right,” Anderson said, explaining the keys to the defensive success. “Before you know it, [Bryant Turner] got a sack at the end of the game without even looking.”
Anderson will have to keep the momentum going on Saturday without Gilmore or Turner, perhaps the biggest opportunity of his young career yet.
“Every second I’m with them, I’m trying to learn something,” Anderson said. “I’ve got a locker right next to (Turner) and (Gilmore). At practice, if I’m slacking off, they’re yelling at me. If I’m doing something wrong, they’re helping me out.
“I credit a lot to them, taking me under their wing a little bit, like their little prodigy.”
Creehan can tell you how the prodigy would look on a scouting report, and he can also tell you that beyond all of that energy and ability, Anderson is already becoming a professional with the organization.
“He’s studying hard, he’s playing hard, he’s a physical guy,” Creehan said. “He’s just going to keep getting better from here.”
Though every experience has been different, from college ball as a Wildcat, to the NFL Super Regional Combine at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, and then north to Investor’s Group Field, Anderson has taken the most away from another place.
“When you’re on the field and you’re playing football, you don’t realize that there are 25,000-30,000 people out there watching, and the people on tv,” he said. “But when you’re sitting on the sidelines and you’re watching your offence go, making big plays and the whole crowd goes wild, that’s when you kind of sit back and realize, ‘Whoa, I’m playing pro ball.’
“When I’m on the sideline taking it all in, that’s the best feeling.”
