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JUSTIN TANG \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox (left) goes to tackle Calgary Stampeders\u2019 Jalen Philpot last season. Santos-Knox signed a one-year deal with his former team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd just seeing my friends do it, too, it\u2019s tough all those years seeing all your buddies from Winnipeg hoist it up. You\u2019re like, \u2018Hey, wish I could be part of that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since I left, my heart was always wanting to get back to Winnipeg somehow, some way,\u201d said Santos-Knox from his home in Boston.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the organization, it\u2019s the city, it\u2019s the fans. There\u2019s not a franchise in the CFL quite like it and I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just for sentimental reasons. The Bombers have made it loud and clear this off-season that they\u2019re doing everything in their power to get back to being a legitimate Grey Cup threat, and it didn\u2019t go unnoticed by the veteran defender.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t yet won a Grey Cup so that\u2019s something I had on my priority list,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of guys love the game, or play for the money. There\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santos-Knox has carved out quite the career for himself \u2014 especially considering how it started. Undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts, he scored a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles that didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d said Santos-Knox.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a couple days later, (Bombers assistant general manager) Danny McManus called my phone. It\u2019s 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\u2019s the best money ever spent cause I\u2019ve been able to make a nine-year career out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do still have the football. It\u2019s in my garage. I have a little setup for it,\u201d said Santos-Knox.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was probably one of the most special moments of my career\u2026 I\u2019ll never forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was around that time when McManus asked to meet with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny\u2026 (he) brought me in and was like \u2018Hey, here\u2019s the $100 back from your tryout. I think you earned it back,\u2019\u201d said Santos-Knox.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I still have that $100 bill as well because I like to think that $100 bill gave me my opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I signed, the first person to text me was Kyrie and how excited he was to get me back. I\u2019m just excited to be back with my brother,\u201d said Santos-Knox.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came into this league as young bucks and to still be playing is quite amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Most Outstanding Defensive Player with 80 tackles and one interception.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019Shea asks of me and whatever my teammates ask of me, I just want to execute that to the best of my ability.\u201d<\/p>\n
BOMBERS RE-SIGN SPECIAL TEAMS ACE<\/p>\n
Canadian defensive back Nick Hallett tested the open market before ultimately deciding to re-sign with the Bombers on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n
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Taylor Allen 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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