'I'm a momma's boy': superwoman follows Blue Bombers' Woodbey

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Published Oct 10, 2025 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 4 minute read

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Redblacks 4.jpeg OTTAWA, Sept. 20, 2025: Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Jaiden Woodbey tackles Ottawa Redblacks receiver Justin Hardy (2) in the second half of a Canadian Football League game at Ottawa on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby Photo by HE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer ColbyArticle content

When Winnipeg Blue Bomber Jaiden Woodbey jogs onto the field in Edmonton on Saturday, he’ll check out a certain section in the stadium, narrow his search down to a certain row, zoom in on a certain seat and find the same person he finds before every game.

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“That’s my mom,” Woodbey was telling me before the Bombers left for the Alberta capital. “She’s a superwoman. And I’m a momma’s boy. I love it.”

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Now, it’s not unusual for parents to attend their kid’s games. But the Woodbey family is from Fontana, Calif., part of what they call the Inland Empire just outside of Greater Los Angeles.

Initially, I assumed Lanette Woodbey came to the occasional game in Winnipeg.

“Every game,” her son said.

So every home game?

“Every game,” he repeated.

So she was in Ottawa three weeks ago and will be in Edmonton this weekend?

“Every game.”

This has been going on since Woodbey was a kid, dad coming to the occasional game, mom crisscrossing the continent to watch him play: college at Florida State, then Boston College, NFL preseason games at home with the L.A. Rams and now Winnipeg.

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No wonder he calls her a superwoman.

Woodbey spent last season with Massachusetts of the Indoor Football League, then signed with the Bombers in March.

As a CFL rookie, the 25-year-old has suited up for the last five games, the last three of which have opened some eyes: back-to-back outings with six tackles and a whopping nine in the last game, the home-field rout over Hamilton.

“This game felt the slowest,” Woodbey said. “Things are starting to click for me.”

At 6-foot-1 and a thick 234 pounds, Woodbey is a bit of a CFL ‘tweener, a defensive back who can play linebacker, which makes him ideally suited for Winnipeg’s multifaceted defence.

“Some versatility,” is what’s stood out for head coach Mike O’Shea. “The way he’s started to pick everything up. He probably has more DB, back-end vision, but he’s tough around the box, too. He’ll bring it. There’s plenty of clips during the season of him putting it on a guy. And then he has a very good knack of coming off blocks and making tackles.”

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From the same high school as star receiver Kenny Lawler, the former Bomber now with Hamilton, Woodbey’s knowledge of the CFL was virtually non-existent when he signed.

“I knew nothing about Canada,” he said. “I knew they had 12 players.”

Lawler reached out to him when he signed, and as luck would have it, two of Woodbey’s games have come against the Tiger-Cats, so he and Lawler “chopped it up” after both.

Nobody could have prepared him for the one thing that’s surprised him most about the CFL: how fast receivers get going when they have a head start with the waggle.

“That makes a big difference,” Woodbey said. “And actually doing it in a game versus practice is night and day. Way faster. You practise full speed, but you’ve got adrenaline and stuff like that, so it makes it even more.”

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Another eye-opener for Woodbey has been the food options in Winnipeg, a place he didn’t know a thing about when he first got here.

“They actually have a really good Jamaican food spot,” he said. “It’s called K&S. I’m trying to go every day with my teammates. They’ll be making fun of me.”

His other big Winnipeg discovery: Booster Juice.

Sense a trend here?

“Tell ’em your nickname,” teammate Cam Allen chipped in from the locker next to Woodbey’s.

“Nickname?” Woodbey said, playing it coy.

“JY calls you donuts,” Allen said.

JY would be defensive coordinator Jordan Younger.

“Yeah, ’cause I talk about food all day,” Woodbey said, laughing. “I love food.”

What hasn’t surprised the man is the amount of work he and his teammates bite off every day.

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“It’s a universal blueprint to being great,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what sport you do, what job you work… you have to work hard and you have to put the time in.”

That’s paid off in back-to-back wins for the 8-7 Bombers, renewing their hopes for a home playoff game with just three weeks left in the regular season.

“It feels like guys are meshing,” Woodbey said. “Everybody knows what time it is. Even the rookies. The vets… they’ve been to the Grey Cup five times. So they know what it’s about. So all we do is follow, look around and, ‘Alright, this is what we need to do.’”

What Woodbey will need to do on Saturday in Edmonton is get together with his No. 1 fan before the game and do what he loves as much as football: eat.

“We always go to breakfast or lunch when she comes out,” he said.

Later it’ll be off to Commonwealth Stadium for their first time, where Woodbey will look up in the stands to see his superwoman.

Wearing his No. 26, presumably?

“I have to get her a 26 jersey,” the kid said, a little sheepish.

It’s the least he could do.

paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca

X: @friesensunmedia

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‘I’m a momma’s boy’: superwoman follows Blue Bombers’ Woodbey

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