Notes and quotes as we head into the final week of training camp…
The Blue Bombers have long mined football’s most remote outposts for talent. It’s the no-stone-unturned theory of scouting and the idea that talent can be unearthed from anywhere, any time.
Consider, for example, that a Winnipeg legend like Chris Walby played his college ball at Dickinson State in North Dakota. All-time leading scorer Troy Westwood did his thing at Augustana University in Sioux Falls. Hall of famer Leo Lewis came from Lincoln University in Nebraska.
And the list goes on and on.
New defensive tackle Devin Adams is still eons from joining an esteemed list like that — he just got here on the weekend and has to make the dang team first, after all — but should he find a home with the Blue Bombers more attention will be drawn to his last school: the Peru State Bobcats, who call Peru, Nebraska home.
Wait… where?
Peru, Nebraska, FYI, is 110 kilometres southeast of Lincoln, the state capital. The most recent census (2020) lists the population at 648. And Adams absolutely loved it there after beginning his college career at Delaware State.
“Peru, Nebraska is in the middle of nowhere cornfield,” said Adams with a grin in a chat with bluebombers.com on Monday. “It’s a place of tranquility — relaxed, very quiet at night, very friendly town. You turn left off this seven-mile road full of cornfields and you go into this town of loving people who are very supportive who want to push you to be a better you. Amazing town, amazing coaches.
“It’s a place I was able to flourish in after coming from Delaware State.”
The Blue Bombers airlifted Adams in on the weekend after he most recently was in rookie camp with the New England Patriots. There’s a Winnipeg connection, too, as former Blue Bombers assistant Casey Creehan — now the head coach at Missouri Valley College — coached Adams at Peru State.
Adams, defensive end Taylor Upshaw and quarterback Eric Barriere all arrived on the weekend as the club continues looking at prospects leading up to Friday’s final preseason game. This is the first trip to Canada for Adams and, naturally, his first look at Princess Auto Stadium.
“When I flew in I was like, ‘It’s spacious’ and then we’re driving I’m like, ‘This is nice and not too much different,’” said Adams. “Then when I got to the stadium it was like, ‘Oh… My… Gosh.’ When I saw this stadium from two or three or lights down and you drive in and it’s got this amazing roof. It’s just everything about this place. I love it.”
Adams said his primary goal is to soak up as much as he can, as quickly as he can. And his biggest adjustment to Canadian game is the yard off the ball at the line of scrimmage.
“‘Adams… back up! Adams… back up!’ That’s all I heard from the sidelines — ‘Adams… back up!’” he said with a grin. “I would say that’s the biggest thing I’ve got to get down, not the three downs, not the 12th guy, it’s that one yard off the ball.”
Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on whether a player like Adams is behind others now because of his late arrival:
“It didn’t look like it. The advantage they have — Taylor Upshaw, too — is those two guys come in here with fresh legs so they’re able to fly around, they’ve got the adrenaline, they believe they’re behind so they’re working at a fast pace to catch up to be right.
“Pretty quickly they were leaning in the neutral zone (not a yard off) and then they didn’t. They take in a lot of information very quickly. At those spots, quite frankly, beside the playbook they have to learn, the terminology they have to learn, it’s less than a guy coming in on offence.”
Two more nuggets on Adams:
First, he said his first passion is baseball, where he was a pitcher, played in the outfield and did have some interest from independent teams about turning pro. His best pitch? “I love a fastball,” he said. “A 93-mile-an-hour fastball right on that black on the outside corner.”
And he also punts. Yes, a 6-2, 290 pound defensive tackle handled the punting chores at Delaware State and Peru State.
“I don’t know what happened,” Adams said with a shrug. “Just one day in high school I started punting in my senior year and then learned some tips to get it finalized. became the punter at Delaware State.”
And when that skill was presented to O’Shea as a possible advantage for Adams — the more you can do, after all — the Bomber boss quickly and jokingly squashed the idea.
“Brad won’t let him,” said O’Shea. “Brad Fotty, the equipment guy, because he’s worried about the balls… they bust and they break the bladders all the time so he’s not allowed to touch them. I’d like to see him cover that after he kicked.”
FYI: OL Pat Neufeld was back in gear on Monday, but mostly played the spectator during practice. He has not practised since camp opened… The Blue Bombers made a couple of roster moves on Monday, releasing receiver Kody Case and defensive lineman Rick D’Abreu.
Castillo returns: Kicker Sergio Castillo was also back on the field on Monday. He had left late last week to return home to be with his wife following the passing of her grandmother.
“I’m good. I’m definitely glad to be back,” he said. “I missed the guys, the environment and being back in the locker room. (The grandmother) was the rock of the family. I’m definitely appreciative of the support of Osh, the team, everyone, to allow me to go back and be with the family.
“I did a lot of reminiscing and thinking… when you’re in your 20s and you’re just trying to make something of yourself. You get to your 30s and my mom’s getting older, my grandmother’s getting older and you’re starting to experience deaths in the family. So, just to be there for my wife, not only in the good times, but in the tough times, too, was big because she’s been there for me when I didn’t have anything going on for me in terms of football where I was unstable with kicking jobs and I had to do a lot of substitute teaching and she said, ‘Serge, just focus on you and I’ll help you out anyway I can’ so for me to be back there for her and obviously the family was a must.”
Quotable: O’Shea on Castillo: “He’s a great teammate. He’s a lot of fun. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and outside of the seven seconds that he’s setting up and kicking he provides a lot of fun around the room and is quite able to laugh at himself, which is always a good lesson for us.
Next: The Blue Bombers are back on the practice field Tuesday morning from 9 a.m.- 11:35 a.m. at Princess Auto Stadium. Practice is open to the public.