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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Tyler Elsbury (right) runs drills at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie camp Friday. The offensive linesman joined the Bombers midway through last year\u2019s training camp and the club kept him around, but his season was cut short when he returned to Iowa City in July to deal with a personal matter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t change a thing. It was a big aspect of my life to be able to develop there,\u201d said Elsbury after the third and final day of Blue Bombers rookie camp on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that was the best spot to be. Obviously, teams look at game tape, but when it comes down to it, I came up here for two weeks last year and made the practice roster and a lot of that is credited with the five guys that I got to play with and learn from. We pushed each other to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsbury joined the Bombers midway through training camp in 2025 and the club saw enough to keep him around. His season ended up being cut short when he returned to Iowa City in July to deal with a personal matter.<\/p>\n
During that time, he remained involved with the sport by helping his brother, Dustin, coach at the high school level.<\/p>\n
Considering he was an Academic All-Big Ten selection at Iowa, he could\u2019ve moved on to something else, but Elsbury was eager to return to Winnipeg this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ready to step into a role here and be on the field all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a big guy as I am, you can\u2019t run down the street and knock people over all the time. This gives you an outlet, and it\u2019s always been a dream of mine,\u201d said Elsbury, who attended Seattle Seahawks rookie mini-camp in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cStanley (Bryant) is 40, but he\u2019s an outlier. You\u2019re not going to be able to play that long usually. And I always talk to my dad and he says, \u2018Do it while you can because when you\u2019re done, you\u2019re done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Linderbaum wasn\u2019t the biggest star Elsbury got to know at Iowa. He was there for the entirety of Caitlin Clark\u2019s time with the Hawkeyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in the dorm together our freshman years and I got to know her during her first couple years and she exploded into a global phenom in women\u2019s basketball and is kind of a driving force,\u201d said Elsbury.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t talk to her as much anymore, but on Instagram though, we still follow each other and we\u2019re still supportive of each other. But yeah, we were in the dorms together, got to know her and we hung out a lot. She\u2019s a great person.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bombers didn\u2019t bring the 24-year-old back to hear stories about his famous classmates, though.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea (left) is impressed with rookie offensive linesman Tyler Elsbury, saying \u201che plays the game the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the type of kid you probably want to take in an alley with you,\u201d said head coach Mike O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a big, strong kid, tough. He played at Iowa in a system that requires you to be tough, and as smiley and jovial as he is walking around, when he steps on the football field, he plays the game the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been trying out the 6-6, 333-pounder at centre during rookie camp, and for good reason. He has experience at guard and tackle, but there\u2019s an opening in the middle of the O-line after veteran starter Chris Kolankowski was cut in the off-season.<\/p>\n Canadian Tui Eli is entering Year 6 with the Bombers and has a chance to finally solidify himself as a starter, but a talent like Elsbury could throw a wrench into the plans.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m ready to step into a role here and be on the field all the time,\u201d said Elsbury.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I still gotta really earn that here. There are no gimmes, I mean, I\u2019m at rookie camp, right? I\u2019m definitely fighting with a bunch of dudes and there\u2019s a lot of good dudes in this camp. But yeah, I\u2019m ready to step into the light and take over with some confidence and play a full season in a starting position.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n First round of cuts<\/p>\n It\u2019s all fun and games until players start getting cut.<\/p>\n The Bombers currently have over 100 players on the roster and approximately eight hopefuls will be sent home by midnight Saturday. Players chosen in the 2026 CFL Canadian Draft and junior invites do not count towards the roster and can stay with the team for the remainder of training camp \u2014 which, starting Sunday, will include veterans.<\/p>\n Next Tuesday the roster will be cut down to 75.<\/p>\n The Bombers play their first pre-season game May 23 in Saskatoon against the Roughriders.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t 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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