{"id":844791,"date":"2026-08-03T17:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/844791\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T17:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:16:13","slug":"hogan-the-new-man-in-the-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/844791\/","title":{"rendered":"Hogan: The New Man in the Middle"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the call that no professional athlete wants to receive.<\/p>\n

On the morning of July 7th, Bubba Bolden was released by the Montreal Alouettes. That transaction would set off an incredibly hectic period where he\u2019d find himself playing safety for the Toronto Argonauts in Winnipeg just three days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big surprise, I didn\u2019t see it coming at all,\u201d Bolden said of his release. \u201cI was working my way into playing a little bit more. \u2018Bev\u2019 (Tyrice Beverette) was out with an injury, so I was playing linebacker over there. I think I was a big contributor to special teams, and I made some plays earlier in the season (including an interception of Chad Kelly in the Argos opener) so I didn\u2019t see the release coming, but it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When word of Bolden\u2019s release reached the Argonauts in Guelph, the front office went into action, discussing the possibility of bringing the 27-year-old to Toronto. General manager Michael \u201cPinball\u201d Clemons and director of player personnel Jim Barker had already discussed Bolden with defensive coordinator Greg Quick, who had coached Bolden last season in Montreal.<\/p>\n

Quick said they were ready to pounce when they learned the defensive back had become a free agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat day when he was released and we had that opportunity (to sign Bolden), I went to Jim,\u201d Quick recalled for Argonauts.ca. \u201cWe had already spoken and identified him as the type of guy that if they came available, we would be interested in. He was definitely on that list. When he became available Jim and Pinball moved swiftly to get him under contract before anybody else did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolden and Quick had developed a solid relationship in Montreal. The player texted the coach as soon as he was released and about an hour later heard from his agent that he should be ready to head to Toronto.<\/p>\n

Montreal\u2019s decision set off a ridiculously busy 80-hour period that saw Bolden get released and sign with Toronto on Tuesday, join the team in Guelph the next day for one practice, fly to Winnipeg on Thursday, then find himself in the starting group in Winnipeg on Friday when Ethan John hurt his ankle; all this while trying to learn the Argo playbook and terminology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bolden says Quick and defensive backs coach Jovon Johnson gave their new player a crash course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got up to speed pretty fast,\u201d he told Argonauts.ca. \u201cI\u2019d say I\u2019m a fast learner. Getting back to the safety position, it\u2019s something I\u2019ve done my whole career so it\u2019s natural to get back to it. I think the coaches did a good job of getting me prepared, and all my teammates gave me the confidence to go out there and play my game, play freely, and know that I\u2019ve got eleven other guys that are going to help me on every snap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Montreal\u2019s decision wasn\u2019t the first time Bolden was released by a team. He received similar bad news with Seattle and Cleveland in the NFL and was also traded in the XFL. Going through the NFL meat grinder can be tough; to some a seemingly never-ending series of signings, practice squad designations, and releases.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas native arrived in pro football with an impressive curriculum vitae. An All-American and multi-National Champion at Bishop Gorman High School, he headed to the University of Miami, where he was named a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, presented to the top defensive back in the NCAA.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now playing regularly for the first time since his days at the \u201cThe U\u201d, something that\u2019s done wonders for his confidence as he tries to prove that he\u2019s capable of becoming a quality starter in the league.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a big boost,\u201d said Bolden. \u201cI\u2019ve talked about it a lot with family and friends. I\u2019ve been through the ringer throughout my pro career. I\u2019m just super blessed to be in the position I\u2019m in today. My teammates have given me a lot of confidence to come out and play, and I\u2019m back in my normal element of playing and doing what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his two starts he\u2019s racked up twenty defensive tackles while also contributing on special teams. Safety wasn\u2019t supposed to be an issue for the Argos, but the surprising retirement of free-agent acquisition Enock Makonzo threw a wrench into those plans.<\/p>\n

Bolden has settled down that spot but has the versatility to move around and play different positions on defence, one of the reasons Quick was so eager to add him to his group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hybrid-type player is very attractive to us,\u201d said the coach. \u201cHe can play safety, but he brings the speed, the ability, the coverage skills to be a true defensive back, but he\u2019s got the intuition and the physicality of a Mike (middle) linebacker. When you can combine those two traits within your defence it gives you a noteworthy personnel advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the call that no professional athlete wants to receive. On the morning of July 7th, Bubba Bolden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-844791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844791","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=844791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}