2024 Blue Bombers get kudos, inspiration, from 1984 champs

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As admirable and successful as the nearsightedness of the Blue Bombers is – their one-game-at-a-time mantra – you sometimes wonder if they appreciate their place in franchise history.

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The Blue Bombers’ win in Hamilton last week, which was the team’s eighth victory in a row, guaranteed an eighth straight winning season for this team, matching a team record set in the 1980s.

Normally, topics like that would be brushed aside like an annoying autumn wasp.

But players got a different perspective at the team’s annual gala dinner on Tuesday night, an event that honoured the 1984 Grey Cup team that was part of that eight-year streak.

There, they not only saw first-hand how long the bond lasts between teammates who have won championships, but also heard from some of them who appreciate what today’s team has already accomplished.

“Sitting at that dinner allows you to take a step back from football and see how cool it is what we’ve been doing,” veteran O-lineman Pat Neufeld said Wednesday. “In 20 years or whenever when we’re barely hanging on and we’re reminiscing about the good old days, it’ll be cool to talk about this chunk of years we had and the seasons we’ve had.”

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Neufeld actually met two players from that ’84 team before the dinner.

They’d driven out from Kelowna, B.C., and attended Tuesday’s practice, Neufeld introducing himself and hearing something that surprised him a little.

“They’re still watching us and saying how great it is, just how proud they are of the team that we’re on this roll … winning games and getting to Grey Cups,” Neufeld said. “It’s cool for them to see.”

D-lineman Jake Thomas got the same sense between appetizers and dessert Tuesday night.

“There’s definitely that sense of pride that the W’s been doing well,” Thomas said. “Looking back will be pretty special. Friendships created. Seeing the guys interact that probably haven’t seen each other in 20, 30 years, just spark up a conversation like nothing’s changed. That’s the coolest part of sport in general.

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“Hopefully we can keep things rolling here with this group and maybe have our own gala dinner one day.”

Winnipeg’s streak of seasons above .500 began with a 11-7 record in 2016, the third year of the Canadian Mafia regime: CEO Wade Miller, GM Kyle Walters, and head coach Mike O’Shea.

Since then, they have gone 12-6, 10-8, 11-7, 11-3 (the shortened 2021 season), 15-3, 14-4 and 10-6 so far this year, winning two Grey Cups.

O’Shea says hearing from the ’84 champs was inspiring.

“All sorts of different comments came out,” he said. “And I appreciate the conversations. And I appreciate what they did. Seeing the clips from the game, it’s really cool. Seeing them hoist the trophy, you realize you’re fighting for the same things. You see these guys drink out of that thing, and you’re battling for the same stuff, for the same reasons … it’s the same feeling you’re trying to achieve.”

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Neufeld, from Saskatchewan, and Thomas, who calls New Brunswick home, have been on board for all eight seasons.

Defensive back Deatrick Nichols has experienced half of the run, but the Florida native already has an understanding of how much the team’s success means to fans and alumni – even if he rarely allows himself to bask in it.

“In the moment, you stay in the moment,” Nichols said. “You try to accomplish these goals where you can look back at it and be proud of yourself. Once you do certain things like that, you’ll be happy when you sit back and relax. Be like, ‘Wow, I did something special.’ Anybody who’s around this area always tell us how grateful and happy they are with the way that we perform.

“So as an honour to them, we always play our best. It’s always bigger than you.”

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Which brings us to the magnitude of the Blue Bombers’ game Friday against Toronto, in which the team could clinch first place and a fourth straight West Final in Winnipeg.

“The last three years we’ve earned the right to host, and that’s something I’ve been talking about with the offensive line, is we have to earn that,” Neufeld said. “And it is big.”

His longtime teammate in the opposite trench doesn’t argue.

“You didn’t want to stumble out of the gate the way we did,” Thomas said, referring to a 2-6 start. “The positive of this is we’ve been playing meaningful football now for the past few months. So it would be huge to get the win this week … you always want to host that West Final. Hopefully we rise to the challenge.”

Great teams usually do.

paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia

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