{"id":79839,"date":"2025-08-18T23:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T23:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/79839\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T23:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T23:22:08","slug":"need-will-never-trump-integrity-mike-oshea-defends-blue-bombers-signing-demerio-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/79839\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Need will never trump integrity’: Mike O’Shea defends Blue Bombers signing Demerio Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Gideon Mojica\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers faced media scrutiny at practice on Monday when Demerio Houston hit the field for the first time since recently signing with the team.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old was charged with domestic violence in November after his wife alleged that he struck her in the face with a suitcase. Houston was also accused of having a history of domestic violence, though his wife told the issuing magistrate that she had not previously contacted authorities as Houston was the main source of income for her and their young children.<\/p>\n

The charge against Houston was dropped in March following a review of the evidence, though he had already been released by the Calgary Stampeders the month prior. The product of Southern University remained a free agent until the Blue Bombers recently added him to the practice roster.<\/p>\n

Monday marked the first time Houston spoke to the media since his offseason arrest and he was ready to address the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew (the scrutiny) was gonna happen, but I\u2019m really not worried about it. I\u2019m just preparing for my future, trying to move forward and take advantage of my second opportunity,\u201d said Houston. \u201cIt feels great to be back, I\u2019m just happy to get another opportunity and be back with the team that gave me my first opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Bombers have a well-earned reputation for being a family-oriented and community-minded organization. Wives and children of players and coaches are ever-present at games and practices, and the team sponsors and hosts a wide variety of events designed to get kids and women more involved in football.<\/p>\n

When asked if he\u2019s worried about the public perception of Houston\u2019s signing, head coach Mike O\u2019Shea indicated that he cares about his team\u2019s reputation but also wants to give people second chances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would always be concerned about being in the community and making sure we\u2019re good citizens,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this organization, we deal with humans and we also deal with humans that make mistakes and work hard to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran coach seemed confident about the signing, touting Houston\u2019s prowess as a player, the fact that the charge against him was dropped, and the extent to which the league investigates matters relating to gender-based violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CFL does a damn good job of doing their investigations,\u201d said O\u2019Shea. \u201cIf our scouting department likes a guy and there\u2019s been something in the past, we submit it to the league and then they say yay or nay. I think every team works with the league in terms of making sure that they protect the brand and all that other stuff, so as far as we\u2019re concerned, everything was dropped and the league probably went further than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed, O\u2019Shea admitted he doesn\u2019t know \u201ca bunch\u201d about how the league carries out such investigations. He suggested that the league would look at police records and \u201ctry to obtain access to whatever they can get,\u201d but he was clearly short on details. O\u2019Shea also indicated the team didn\u2019t conduct an investigation of its own outside of having a few conversations, saying he wasn\u2019t sure they\u2019d find anything more than the league did.<\/p>\n

The Blue Bombers had a strong need at defensive back after Jamal Parker and Terrell Bonds suffered injuries, the latter of which is season-ending. Despite the club\u2019s lack of depth at the position \u2014 they also brought back Russell Dandy, who had a stint on the practice roster in 2024 and attended training camp in May \u2014 O\u2019Shea insisted that the team hasn\u2019t sold its soul by repatriating Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeed will never trump integrity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had him here before, he\u2019s been good for us. He\u2019s been a good player for us. He\u2019s done very well in this league, and he\u2019s available.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying that Houston was a special player for the Blue Bombers. The native of Shelby, N.C. played three seasons with the team before departing for the Stampeders as a free agent in 2024. He helped Winnipeg win a Grey Cup in 2021 and was named All-CFL in 2023 when he made a league-best seven interceptions.<\/p>\n

Daniel Wilkes, Houston\u2019s public defender, told\u00a03DownNation in March he expected the charge would be expunged from Houston\u2019s record, though this has not yet occurred. Houston told the media on Monday that the charge is \u201con the verge of getting expunged.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what he\u2019s learned through this process, Houston believes he\u2019s now a more reliable husband and father.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust be there for my family,\u201d he said. \u201cI had some requirements through the CFL that I had to go through and everything\u2019s completed and done with.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear exactly what the process was for Houston to be approved to return to the CFL through the league\u2019s gender-based violence policy. After initially terming the process as \u201cnothing, really,\u201d he opened up a little when pressed, saying it featured a months-long investigation that started while he was still a member of the Stampeders and concluded after he was released. He also said he did some counselling with a therapist.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t appear as though Houston\u2019s return to the CFL has any ongoing conditions as he indicated \u201ceverything\u2019s clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensive coordinator Jordan Younger is clearly pleased to have Houston back as his unit has allowed 292.2 passing yards per game this season, which ranks seventh in the CFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always been a really good guy, always been polite and respectful. We\u2019ve never had any problems with him, and he\u2019s been cleared of all the charges,\u201d said Younger. \u201cI\u2019m happy to have him. We\u2019ve been going through some injury situations, and to be able to pick up a DB that has that type of experience and made those type of plays \u2014 we\u2019re very fortunate to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Houston did not practice with the top defence on Monday, instead playing boundary cornerback with the second-string unit. He admitted there\u2019s a little rust for him to knock off but indicated he\u2019s otherwise ready to play when called upon.<\/p>\n

Two-time All-CFL receiver Dalton Schoen returned to practice on Monday, though he seems unlikely to play this week as he\u2019s one matchup short of completing his stint on the six-game injured list. If he returns after missing this week\u2019s game, he would make his return in the Labour Day Classic in Regina.<\/p>\n

Peyton Logan, who signed with the Blue Bombers as a free agent in February, also appeared to be a full participant in practice on Monday. The versatile speedster is capable of contributing at running back, receiver, and returner and took reps returning kicks during practice. With rookie Trey Vaval now starting at boundary cornerback, Logan could take on some or all of the return duties this week.<\/p>\n

The Blue Bombers (5-4) will visit the Montreal Alouettes (5-5) on Thursday, August 21 with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Gideon Mojica\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers faced media scrutiny at practice on Monday when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-79839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}