It wasn’t easy for Jovan Santos-Knox to watch the Winnipeg Blue Bombers begin their Grey Cup run the year after he left.
It stung even more in 2021, when the linebacker and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats fell 33-25 in overtime on their home field to those same Bombers in the championship game.
“To have it that close and to be just there, I’ve been itching for that feeling of being able to hoist it,” Santos-Knox told reporters in a Zoom call early Wednesday.
JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox (left) goes to tackle Calgary Stampeders’ Jalen Philpot last season. Santos-Knox signed a one-year deal with his former team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, on Tuesday.
“And just seeing my friends do it, too, it’s tough all those years seeing all your buddies from Winnipeg hoist it up. You’re like, ‘Hey, wish I could be part of that.’”
That’s one of the reasons why the 31-year-old is now back in blue and gold. Santos-Knox, who spent his first two CFL seasons in Winnipeg, officially signed a one-year deal on Tuesday that will see him play for the Bombers for the first time in seven long years. He spent the past three with the Ottawa Redblacks, and once they made it clear they were moving in a different direction, he knew where he wanted to end up.
“Ever since I left, my heart was always wanting to get back to Winnipeg somehow, some way,” said Santos-Knox from his home in Boston.
“It’s the organization, it’s the city, it’s the fans. There’s not a franchise in the CFL quite like it and I’ve been around to a few, as you guys know. Just to be able to get back and be back to where it all started is an amazing thing.”
It wasn’t just for sentimental reasons. The Bombers have made it loud and clear this off-season that they’re doing everything in their power to get back to being a legitimate Grey Cup threat, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the veteran defender.
“I haven’t yet won a Grey Cup so that’s something I had on my priority list,” he said.
“A lot of guys love the game, or play for the money. There’s different reasons why you play this game. I think at this point in my career, to put the icing on the cake would be a championship.”
Santos-Knox has carved out quite the career for himself — especially considering how it started. Undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts, he scored a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles that didn’t lead to anything. Then, he was out of football for a year until his dad, Byron, discovered the CFL and that teams hold open tryouts across the United States.
“We actually went to three different spots: a Calgary tryout, a Montreal tryout, and a Winnipeg tryout. Me and my father drove down nine hours (from his original home of Middletown, Connecticut) to North Carolina and did the tryout with Winnipeg,” said Santos-Knox.
“And a couple days later, (Bombers assistant general manager) Danny McManus called my phone. It’s funny, we probably spent $400 or $500 overall on the trip. There was a $100 fee, you had to get a hotel, then you had to rent a car. Me and my dad joke all the time that it’s the best money ever spent cause I’ve been able to make a nine-year career out of it.”
Santos-Knox made the Bombers as a rookie in 2017. He was a regular on special teams before he was moved up the depth chart to make his first career start in the Banjo Bowl. With his family in attendance, he picked off Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Kevin Glenn on their opening drive.
“I do still have the football. It’s in my garage. I have a little setup for it,” said Santos-Knox.
“That was probably one of the most special moments of my career… I’ll never forget that.”
It was around that time when McManus asked to meet with him.
“It’s funny… (he) brought me in and was like ‘Hey, here’s the $100 back from your tryout. I think you earned it back,’” said Santos-Knox.
“And I still have that $100 bill as well because I like to think that $100 bill gave me my opportunity.”
The following year, Santos-Knox broke his foot in the final game of the regular season and was forced to miss the post-season. Edmonton went on to scoop him up in free agency, meanwhile the Bombers opted to roll with another up and coming linebacker in Kyrie Wilson who is now entering his ninth season with the club.
“When I signed, the first person to text me was Kyrie and how excited he was to get me back. I’m just excited to be back with my brother,” said Santos-Knox.
“We came into this league as young bucks and to still be playing is quite amazing.”
But where is everyone going to fit? Santos-Knox joins a linebacker room that has both starters back from last year: Wilson and Tony Jones. Santos-Knox, a CFL East all-star in 2022, is coming off an impressive year where he was named Ottawa’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player with 80 tackles and one interception.
“I just want to be able to go in there and compete and help this team in any way possible. Whatever that role is, whatever the team needs, whatever Coach (Mike) O’Shea asks of me and whatever my teammates ask of me, I just want to execute that to the best of my ability.”
BOMBERS RE-SIGN SPECIAL TEAMS ACE
Canadian defensive back Nick Hallett tested the open market before ultimately deciding to re-sign with the Bombers on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old from London, Ont., has appeared in 100 regular-season games for the Bombers, including seven starts at safety, dating back to 2019. He has 80 career special teams tackles which ranks sixth in franchise history.
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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.
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