Melding force with intellect: Bombers’ Bighill nowhere near done

Article content

He was hobbled at the end of last season and out of the lineup with an injury to start this one.

Article content

The easy and perhaps lazy conclusion to draw regarding Blue Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill is he’s nearing the end of the line. That at 35 years of age, the wear and tear of a physically pounding position is catching up with him.

Yeah, right.

“There’s guys who are 24, 22, 23 who’ve got injuries. More injuries than I’ve ever had,” Bighill said. “My injury list is pretty low. I’m not worried about it at all.”

Bighill kicks off his 12th CFL season in Ottawa on Thursday, a week later than his teammates but much earlier than his place on the six-game injured list may have suggested.

The man in the middle of the Bombers defence says a career finish line isn’t something he spends a minute fretting about.

“No, I don’t,” he said. “I have an internal fire that’s still going. So I’m not going to question that until it’s not there anymore, and then I know.”

Article content

Standing in Bighill’s presence provides a sense of that internal fire.

Up close, you truly appreciate the bulk of the man. Biceps the size of the average thigh, thighs bigger than some tree trunks – the amount of work he puts in is packed onto a 5-foot-10, 241-pound frame of muscle, bone, heart and brains.

What keeps him pumping iron by day and ball carriers by night instead of turning his full-time attention to his other career as a Winnipeg-based financial advisor?

“You can’t hit people in regular-day life,” the father of three said. “This game’s special. As long as I want to compete and have that fire to put in the work to dominate and impose my will on somebody, then I’m going to keep going. I enjoy the training. But I enjoy the training so I can enjoy playing football.

Article content

“This is a time to let all that work show. Have fun and show you are a dominant force on the field.”

Few have been as dominant as Bighill, not just over his 11 CFL seasons but over the course of league history.

Three times the top defensive player, six times a league all-star, three times a Grey Cup champ – they can begin work on his Canadian Football Hall of Fame bust today and reserve a spot in the Bombers Ring of Honour while they’re at it.

But the product of Montesano, Wash., wants more.

“Win more Grey Cups,” he said. “There’s not a better feeling. There’s so many guys it takes to make something successful on one play. Now magnify that through an entire season and then a championship game.”

That’s the fun part of the game for Bighill, right up there with a flying-through-the-air, goal-line stuff or a big hit at the line of scrimmage or even a fumble return for a touchdown.

Article content

When brawn and brain come together in perfect harmony, for the ultimate team reward.

“When you win championships, you took care of all the details better than anybody else, with every single person on your team, more frequently, more often and in the most important moments of the entire season,” is how he put it. “I don’t know what compares to that.”

Bombers defensive coordinator Jordan Younger says few compare to his defensive captain when it comes to thinking the game.

“His IQ is elite,” Younger said. “Mike O’Shea and Adam Bighill are the only two people that can communicate on the level that they do that I’ve been around. In some ways, and I have no shame in saying this… there’s nuances to playing in the box that he knows better than most of the coaches.

Article content

“I learn from him at times. I defer to him in certain situations. I know his answer will make sense.”

Somehow Bighill has taken all the knowledge he’s accumulated, all the looks he’s seen from offences over the years, and stored them in a place readily accessible while he’s lining up for a play.

“I’ll call plays out, and a lot of the time I’m right,” he said. “That helps the guys up front know what block to expect. Now (they) can react faster. The game is very slow for me. And I can try to slow it down for other people with that knowledge. I can help people be more successful with that knowledge.”

Sounds like a future coach, if he wants to be.

For the foreseeable future, though, he remains all-in as a player.

That includes making his workouts harder than games, so the games come easy. It means studying opposing offences a ridiculous amount.

And on game day, melding force with intellect.

“Doing it all,” he said. “Making all the plays I’m supposed to make, and making some plays that other people can’t make.

“This is what I love.”

pfriesen@postmedia.com
X: @friesensunmedia

Article content