Blue Bombers back the Sea Bears
You can bet on seeing a few Friday night at the Canada Life Centre when the Sea Bears host the Calgary Surge in the CEBL Western Conference final.
'It's just nice having that option to do something other than football. We have other sports teams here in the city, but the Sea Bears bring a lot of people out, especially downtown at the arena, and the atmosphere is electric,' said Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson. 'Basketball is a big sport in Manitoba, and I grew up playing basketball, loving basketball. It was my first sport, really, and I just love to see the game.'
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS files
Bombers DE Willie Jefferson hoops it up in the off season in a local men's league.
Jefferson isn't the only member of the Blue and Gold who took to the hardwood before stepping on the gridiron. The only reason right guard Patrick Neufeld strapped on a helmet for the first time in Grade 11 was because his high school football coach told him it would be a good way to get in shape for basketball season.
'It tricked me, and it worked,' said Neufeld, who was a provincial team player in Saskatchewan.
'I was relatively tall for a Regina dude. Obviously, I was a little skinnier back then and I loved basketball. I hilariously had a recruiting offer from Medicine Hat College to play basketball there. But after I played one season of football, I was better at football than I ever was at basketball so it kind of turned into a no-brainer and I'm glad I stuck with it.'
There were early signs that he'd be a better fit in the trenches than in the paint.
'I had five fouls and I made sure I used all of them because you don't get to save them,' said Neufeld.
It was the opposite for left tackle Stanley Bryant who got into football first, but if you're a big kid from North Carolina, you don't have much of a choice but to play basketball at some point.
'I played AAU in Grade 10 or 11. We went to a tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and I had a chance to play against (future NBA hall of famer) Chris Paul and P.J. Tucker (a 14-year NBA vet who won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021). I mean, we got smoked, but it was a good experience,' recalled Bryant.
'It was fun, but back then, we didn't have social media or none of that, so I didn't really know who those guys were. I might've heard about Chris Paul on YouTube beforehand, but I didn't know who P.J. Tucker was at all. He wasn't that good, so at the end of the game, he was trying to cross me up, and I remember this vividly, I didn't let it happen.'
Jefferson, who hails from Beaumont, Texas, also battled with some future NBA all-stars on the AAU circuit in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The 6-7 power forward — who still shows off his shot-blocking ability today as he leads the CFL with nine pass knockdowns and believes his basketball background is a key reason for that — had schools across The Lone Star State inquiring about his services, including the University of Houston, but ultimately decided football was his path to stardom.
Now living year-round in Winnipeg, Jefferson, does, however, still make time in the off-season to get buckets. Earlier this year, he signed up for senior men's hoops in the Peg City League where he teamed up with some locals to win the top division. In five games, Jefferson averaged 11.4 points and 10 rebounds per game.
'It was cool, I'd walk in and guys would be like 'Is that Willie Jefferson?' I'd play the four or five (position) and there would always be one guy from the other team that's trying to bang with me, and I'd be like 'C'mon now, I'm not trying to go too hard with you,'' said Jefferson.
'And they'd be like 'Yeah, man, let's do it' and I'd have to turn it on a little bit.'
They'd usually regret it. Jefferson put a few unlucky opponents on posters.
'Oh, most definitely. I dunked on a couple of guys,' said Jefferson. 'I'm not going to say any names, but it was fun.'
If defensive back Dexter Lawson Jr. had Jefferson's height, there's a chance he'd be knocking down shots somewhere today.
An all-state player out of Connecticut in both sports, Lawson led Thomas More High School to the state final in his senior year.
'We ended up losing the championship on a last second layup. The week before was really good, I was on a high, I scored 34 points in the semifinal to give us the go ahead to go to the championship, and then the week after that, to lose that way, I was heartbroken,' said Lawson. 'I still think about that today.'
Despite his post-season heroics, measuring in at 5-10 didn't open to many doors. He ended up becoming a standout corner at Central Connecticut State and Appalachian State prior to breaking into the CFL in 2023 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
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'I tell guys I'm still a basketball player that just plays football,' said Lawson.
As for head coach Mike O'Shea, he dabbled with the bouncing orange ball as well when he was growing up and embraced the Dennis Rodman role of cleaning up the glass.
You just better not have asked him to score.
'I was terrible,' said O'Shea. 'If you passed me the ball, I was going to zing it right back at you.'
taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca
Taylor AllenReporter
Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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