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![\"MIKE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4240853_web1_260519-Bombers-0018.jpg\")
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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Nick Hallett (21) believes he has something to prove after feeling like he wasn\u2019t as good last season with the Blue and Gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy to just be back on the team this year,\u201d Hallett told the Free Press after Wednesday\u2019s training camp session.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to be back here. It took a little bit, but I love the guys, I love the team, I love the locker room. I feel like I wasn\u2019t as good last year as I have been in previous years, but I want to try to rectify that and help the team in any way that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hallett didn\u2019t miss a single game in his first five seasons, but a neck issue sidelined him for four contests last year.<\/p>\n
Despite ranking sixth in franchise history with 80 special teams tackles, Hallett feels like a young player again \u2014 one with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do want to still prove that I can run with the young dogs. I still feel great,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt good that last playoff game, so, I just want to prove that I can still do it. The main thing is help this team because I know where we can be. Looking at the pieces, we just need to put it all together and I know what we can achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of what he has left in the tank, Hallett\u2019s career is a shining example for the rookies in camp that it doesn\u2019t matter where a player gets selected on draft day.<\/p>\n
The 5-11, 190-pound defender was chosen in the seventh round, 61st overall, in the 2019 CFL Draft out of the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really doesn\u2019t matter. I\u2019ve seen first rounders not make it, I\u2019ve seen seventh, eighth rounders make it and have long careers,\u201d said Hallett.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really just what you do with that opportunity. I try to bring all the young guys along and do my part, like the vets did before with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hallett celebrated a milestone in 2025 by appearing in his 100th career game with the Bombers. He started seven of those at safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching him operate, he seemed to get a lot of joy out of simple things and you can watch him having his own fun on the practice field while he was waiting for a rep,\u201d said Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then with his role on special teams, he just places such a high importance. As much as everybody wants to do other things, too, he doesn\u2019t let that part of it distract him from the plays he\u2019s involved in on special teams. He takes that as seriously as anybody, and puts all out effort into his special teams play.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor young guys that are coming in, they have to show us that\u2019s the kind of attitude they\u2019re going to have,\u201d O\u2019Shea added.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Nick Hallett (21) ranks sixth in franchise history with 80 special teams tackles. Last season was the first time he didn\u2019t suit up for every game due to a neck issue.<\/p>\n And for those young players, it might help their case if they arrive with the same mentality Hallett had as a rookie \u2014 unsure of exactly how everything worked.<\/p>\n \u201cI came in not knowing the rules. I thought as a draft pick, you can still get cut at any time. I didn\u2019t know that you don\u2019t count to the roster, so every day, I was like, \u2018This could be my last,\u2019 which I think probably helped me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI not only made the team, but I dressed and was playing special teams right away. It almost doesn\u2019t feel that long ago, but I know it has been.\u201d<\/p>\n Let\u2019s play some football<\/p>\n Wednesday officially marked Day 11 of Blue Bombers training camp.<\/p>\n Players are physically and mentally exhausted at this point, but if you want to see their faces quickly light up, just mention the fact that they are days away from going up against an actual opponent.<\/p>\n The Bombers kick off their pre-season on Saturday when they meet the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Saskatoon at 6 p.m. CT.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re all itching to play,\u201d said rookie quarterback Taylor Elgersma.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been hitting each other for long enough now that I think it\u2019s time that we\u2019re all wearing the same colour and going to hit someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n Pre-season action is far from fascinating, but the Bombers will be worth watching thanks to their intriguing backup quarterback battle.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah, fun,\u201d admitted O\u2019Shea, before pumping the brakes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game will play out, there will be bits of information that we can take in, there will be facts, and there will \u2014 probably, outside of the building \u2014 there will be things made up about what they see. And here, we\u2019ll stick to what\u2019s really going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Elgersma has, far and away, looked the most impressive out of the four arms \u2014 Terry Wilson, Bryce Perkins and Payton Thorne being the others \u2014 vying for work behind starter Zach Collaros.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Taylor Elgersma (13) has looked the most impressive out of the four arms gunning to be starter Zach Collaros\u2019 backup in training camp.<\/p>\n His decisiveness and arm talent have stood out, and a strong showing by the 24-year-old Canadian against the Riders will only further strengthen his argument as to why he should be the No. 2 pivot.<\/p>\n O\u2019Shea and offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell planned to meet Wednesday night to discuss how they plan to use the quarterbacks on Saturday. They\u2019ve learned a lot about the group in these last two weeks, but they\u2019ll learn a whole lot more when they see them perform live against true competition.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen there\u2019s an opponent there that\u2019s actually going to hit you \u2014 because we can\u2019t practice like that and we won\u2019t \u2014 what are their reactions? Do they rise or do they not?\u201d said O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n \u201cEven in practice when you\u2019re running a skelly practice and you\u2019re throwing, the DBs aren\u2019t necessarily breaking up through receivers so the timing is always good for the most part. So, now the receivers will be getting hit and the timing has to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t It\u2019ll be Elgersma\u2019s first game action since Aug. 23, 2025, when he was with the Green Bay Packers and went six-for-eight for 33 yards and a passing touchdown in their pre-season finale \u2014 a 20-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was obviously very exciting being able to get out there and being at Lambeau (Field) for the first time and running out of that tunnel for the first time was definitely a cool experience,\u201d said Elgersma.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m excited to get playing here.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bombers play their second and final pre-season game on May 29 when they host the B.C. Lions.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \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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