It’s a mammoth number/milestone in the Canadian Football League — 100 career games played — which speaks of an obvious skill and dogged perseverance, of course, and all the help the man can get along the way when the valleys and speed bumps suddenly appear.

Sergio Castillo now has 100 CFL games played through a career that began with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2015 — he’s now in his third run here — with CFL stops in Ottawa, Hamilton, B.C. and Edmonton along with stints with the San Antonio Commanders, Houston Roughnecks and New York Jets in between.

And with that many lines on his resumé it gives a man a chance to reflect, to take a stroll down memory lane and develop a big-picture appreciation for what 100 games played means.

So, Sergio, what does joining the century club represent?

“It means,” he began in a chat with bluebombers.com on Thursday, “that I’m getting old. Really old.”

Castillo, now 34, then breaks into his trademark cackle and it’s a soundtrack heard often throughout the Blue Bombers clubhouse — hell, the whole facility — any day the proud product of La Joya, Texas is in the building.

No one, it could be said, soaks up the sunshine and smells the proverbial flowers more than Castillo.

“I will say that 100, yes, that’s a big number,” he said. “And I think of from where it started — October 10, 2015, and that game in B.C. — to where we’re at now… it’s definitely been a journey. It had me reminiscing about the places I’ve been — and I’ve been everywhere — and the people I’ve met along the way. It was emotional leading up to the 100th game for all of that and to think about having played for this long. It’s pretty cool.

“That first game… I remember Osh (head coach Mike O’Shea) coming up to me during the warm-up — and until then I always had bad warm-ups — and he said, ‘You OK?’ and I had to explain this wasn’t unusual.  I told him that story yesterday and admitted all these years later that I was actually really nervous. I remember starting with a short field goal of 15 yards and then hitting the game winner late.

“It was a pretty sweet way to start my pro career. And now we’re here.”

‘Here’ is with Castillo having found a place among not just the Blue Bombers franchise kicking legends, but among the CFL’s all-time best. He is 12-of-13 on field-goal attempts this year, including a 58-yard bomb last week, and has connected on all three of his 50 yards-plus attempts after establishing a new league record last season of 11 makes from 50 yards or more, including two 60-yarders.

“He’s a real bright personality and character,” said O’Shea. “He can fit in with any group and he does that very well. It’s like he’s oblivious that he might not fit, which is a great attribute to have in a big locker room. He provides a lot for the team in that regard and then you trot him out from 58 (yards out) and he bangs away, and he provides that all the time.

“There’s so much confidence in his ability, not just from the coaching staff but from his teammates. He does it in practice all the time and then he goes out there and does it in games.”

Castillo is quick to credit his wife Adriana and their son Jared, now 4 1/2, for helping ground him. He also points to having growing interests, like golf and photography, for helping provide a critical mental and physical outlet outside of the game that can often serve as an escape.

“Ever since I came back here in ’23 I’ve had the best years in terms of percentage and distance,” he said. “It’s partly because once I get out of here, I don’t think about football. Golf, photography, my son and my wife… I have these releases and as soon as I get home all I think about is about being a dad and a husband.

“Jared is with me everywhere. If I put on my left shoe first, he’s putting on his left shoe first. He wants to do photography just like dad. We went to the Morris Stampede, and he is right there with me taking his photos, too.

“Those hobbies and being a dad and a husband have helped give me new energy.”

Open about the struggles he had in the past with shelving a miss or a wallowing for too long during a low point, Castillo has now honed his ability to find a silver lining or pure joy in almost any moment.

“I’ve actually been that way since I was a kid. I’ve always been so excited about life,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe it was partly because my dad wasn’t involved in my life, but my mom was great, my aunts were great, my cousins and they helped teach me about enjoying every day and being me. I get up and it’s, ‘What am I going to laugh at today?’

“I learned so much about myself. It was about learning to be OK with the cards you get dealt in life and then finding a way to play them that suited me best. I’ve been surrounded by good people who keep me accountable in the locker room and outside the locker room and friends and family — I’m very selective about who I’ve spent time with — but they help keep me grounded.

“It’s interesting… I’ve been cut, released because of poor play or other players being better than me 11 times,” he added. “I wish I could reach out to all the people that were there for me throughout the whole process and to keep going — especially after I tore my ACL back in ’17. It’s definitely been some ups and downs. I try to tell the young guys — I was talking to Kody Case last week and he thought I had been here my whole career — that there will be ups and downs, but you just have to keep doing the little things.

“All those ups and downs seem so long ago now that I’m here, but it’s also all so worth it. Hopefully I have another three to four years… I would like to go another six to eight. Right now, I’m just enjoying everything. Like I always do.”

BRYANT RULED OUT: The Blue Bombers will be without future hall of fame left tackle Stanley Bryant for a second straight game Saturday in Toronto against the Argonauts with an ankle injury. His spot will be filled again this week by Micah Vanterpool.

Injury Report: July 24, 2025#ForTheW | @DoctorsManitoba pic.twitter.com/ptbi151B0m

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) July 24, 2025

GET ‘EM BEFORE THEY’RE GONE: Tickets for the next home game — a rematch with the Argos on August 1st at Princess Auto Stadium — are already moving, with the team announcing Thursday morning sales have already eclipsed the 30K mark.

we’ve sold OVER 30K for COUNTRY NIGHT on August 1st ‼️

we’ve got mechanical bull riding in the tailgate (opens at 5:30 pm, btw) and post-game fireworks (weather permitting).

GET ‘EM BEFORE THEY’RE GONE » https://t.co/k4qyuoxb2F#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/oFnjl0pDqu

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) July 24, 2025

NFL WATCH: NFL training camps are now underway with the Blue Bombers personnel department eyeing a few of their own down south including receiver Pokey Wilson, last year’s top rookie with the club, along with 2025 CFL Draft pick QB Taylor Elgersma and 2024 selection Giovanni Manu.

-Wilson is listed fourth of four at one wide receiver spot on the New York Jets depth chart, with the club having 13 receivers across three positions.

-Elgersma is fourth behind starter Jordan Love and NFL vets Malik Willis and Sean Clifford.

-And Manu is listed behind veteran left tackle Taylor Decker on the Detroit Lions’ depth chart.

A solid piece on detroitlions.com about Manu can be found here and players and coaches are raving about the progress made by the 6-7, 340-pound UBC product.

Gionvanni Manu at Detroit Lions training camp; photo courtesy Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions

“I think he’s starting to gain confidence in himself,” Decker said of Manu in the article. “He’s obviously physically gifted. Like, incredibly physically gifted. It’s been a step up obviously coming from college. Not only if you come from college in the United States to the NFL, but from Canada. I think a step up in the competition and having to learn the playbook against really good competition just took a little bit. Now he’s starting to gain some confidence.

“He just needs reps and he’s going to get a lot of reps. I think he’s going to continue to improve and I’m excited to see him get more opportunities in the preseason to be able to be in a game scenario and do it because that’s another step after practice.”

Added Manu: “Last year I felt like I drinking out of a fire hose. Still a lot of mental errors I’m doing out there, but confidence at least is up there. Every time I’m on the field there’s times I do hesitate but I’m counting more times where I’m not hesitating compared to last year.

“I just want to show them that I’m the player that they wanted me to be. I’m the player they drafted and I’m the player they saw toward the end of the year which was that aggression and that high confidence. I just want to take it up a notch from last year and I want to prove to them I have what it takes to step on that field when I need to be called on.”