Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
Stanley Bryant was there when the concrete was first being poured on ground floor back in 2015. And now the veteran left tackle – and the back-to-back winner of the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award – certainly isn’t about to walk away from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as they continue construction on a championship-calibre squad.
“The last two years we’ve been in a position to not only get to a Grey Cup, but win a Grey Cup,” said Bryant, who officially signed a one-year contract extension on Thursday. “We’ve had some success in the last few years and right now with some of the instability in the West, it’s another opportunity for us to take advantage.”
“We’ve got to step up and hopefully we can take care of some unfinished business this year and take that (Grey) Cup down to Portage and Main.”
Bryant’s contract extension has been hinted at for months, dating back to Grey Cup week in Edmonton when he was crowned as the CFL’s top lineman for a second consecutive year – the first lineman in the league to do so since Montreal’s Scott Flory in 2008-09 and the first Bombers ever to accomplish the feat. Part of Bryant’s success, aside from his obvious skill, is his durability – the 32-year-old Goldsboro, NC product has made 83 consecutive starts since joining the club.
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“It’s incredible. It just speaks to his preparation and his work ethic,” said quarterback Matt Nichols of Bryant’s ironman streak. “He’s a guy that puts in the time to make sure his body is right for the entire season. He’s just one of those guys where there’s literally no worry in your mind about him. He’s going to be on assignment, he’s going to get his guy taken care of. He doesn’t miss.
“The one time he did miss a little bit last year I was going down and he actually held me up and allowed me to flip the ball out to Andrew in a crazy play we had. He just finds a way. Incredible player. Incredible teammate. He’s one of the best guys… he’s one of the best guys to mess with, too, because if you mess with him he just laughs really hard.”
That’s a high compliment coming from the quarterback. But it’s a common sentiment in the room: Bryant is not only an all-star tackle, he’s an all-star teammate.
A future hall of famer, Bryant also understands this: legacies are made in November. He already has one Grey Cup ring – from the 2014 Calgary Stampeders – but desperately wants to add another with this current crop of Bombers.
“You can see a major difference in things from when I first got to Winnipeg,” said Bryant. “You knew it was going to be a process to get the right pieces, the right people in the locker room. We’ve gelled each year. As a group, we’re ready to take that next step. Now we have to go out and do it and not just talk about it. I know we’re ready. I know the fans are ready. We want to make a legacy in Winnipeg and the window only stays open for so long.”
