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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
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Winnipeg Blue Bombers safety Redha Kramdi said Tuesday that he was grateful for former Bombers vets \u2014 like Adam Bighill, who he still keeps in contact with \u2014 for sharing their knowledge on the defensive side of the game that has improved his play.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI told myself I\u2019d never play in the CFL. The gap between U Sports and professional football is pretty huge,\u201d said Kramdi, who was chosen in the second round, 16th overall, in the 2021 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers out of the University of Montreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was watching them and was like, \u2018This is too fast for me. People are too strong, too physically gifted. And the communication is on a level I\u2019ll never attain in my life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
At first, the young defensive back aspired to be nothing more than a reliable special teamer \u2014 and there\u2019s no shame in that.<\/p>\n
But after checking that box in Year 1, his next goal was to work his way into playing in the odd defensive package.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter my second year, I think I was like, \u2018Yeah, maybe I\u2019m not a starter, but if someone gets injured, I can get in there and help us not lose,\u2019\u201d Kramdi told the Free Press after Tuesday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
He accomplished that in 2022, and midway through 2023, he established himself as a full-time starter at dimeback.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s all thanks to guys like Adam Bighill, Nick Taylor, Deatrick Nichols, and Brandon Alexander. They gave me a lot of confidence before I really even believed in myself. It was hard, honestly, and I had to work a lot, but they really helped me,\u201d said Kramdi, who now plays safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery question I had, they were sitting down and taking the time to answer it. I was a special teamer, they weren\u2019t obligated to do it, but they did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kramdi was clearly taking notes. Fast-forward to today, and the 29-year-old is one of the top Canadian talents in the three-down league.<\/p>\n
After missing six games with a hand injury, Kramdi returned just in time for the Banjo Bowl and forced two turnovers to help the Bombers to a dominant 19-6 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 Redha Kramdi (left) had an interception and a forced fumble for the club in the Banjo Bowl \u2014 the safety\u2019s first game back after missing six games due to a hand injury.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n When he got back to the locker room, he had a message from one of those former teammates who had once taken him under his wing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still in contact with Adam Bighill. He knew I had it in me. I told him, \u2018Thank you for everything you did for me.\u2019 And he said, \u2018You\u2019re far from done, keep it going,\u2019\u201d said Kramdi.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a mentor, he\u2019s one call away and he always shoots me texts after games, before games and we talk during the week. He made sure that when we were on the field that I understood why he was telling me to do something. If I could be half the player he was, I\u2019d be more than happy with my career.\u201d<\/p>\n While Kramdi doesn\u2019t have Bighill\u2019s long list of accolades, he has been compared to the future Hall of Famer several times in recent weeks. The most recent person to draw the comparison was defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201c(Kramdi) works to understand the game at a higher level than any player I\u2019ve been around,\u201d said Younger.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t ROBERT LEE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger said Tuesday that Redha Kramdi is a natural mentor to the younger players on the club, particularly in how the safety sees the game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cAdam Bighill is one of the guys that did that same type of level of work where he\u2019s in the defensive meetings, the extra defensive meetings, and then he goes to the offensive meetings. So, he just works to understand the game at a level that a lot of guys don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though Kramdi didn\u2019t see it, Younger knew right away that he had the tools to become a valuable defender.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew when we drafted him because of the plays he made on film. It was really a matter of the growth \u2014 \u2018how long would it take for him to catch on?\u2019 What we do is more complex, what the offences do is more complex, and it takes a certain level of humility to understand, \u2018OK, even though I\u2019m bright, even though I\u2019m smart, I still have a learning curve to get over,\u2019\u201d said Younger.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a lot of Canadian guys, you got to earn your stripes on special teams first. Hats off to him, he embraced that special teams role first\u2026 And once the opportunity to play defence came, he never let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Stifling Saskatchewan<\/p>\n Younger had a hunch that his unit was going to make life difficult for Trevor Harris and the Riders.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily in my head, it\u2019s what I can get (our defence) to understand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we sit in a meeting and we talk about, \u2018Alright, when they\u2019re in this set, what should we do?\u2019 And you hear everybody go, \u2018Boom, boom, boom. Next question.\u2019 And they all know it, now you know you have an opportunity to have that type of game against a good offence.\u201d<\/p>\n Six points is the fewest scored by any CFL team this season.<\/p>\n \u201cChad Kelly is a very different quarterback from Trevor Harris \u2013 style wise, the way he executes the system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou see (Kramdi) gets in the game, and nobody actually moves any different, we just talk a little bit different. We anticipate things a little bit better,\u201d said Younger.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it encourages (young players to think), \u2018Oh, if I go learn and spend a little more time studying so I can anticipate these things, I can impact the game the same way.\u2019 So, that\u2019s what you\u2019re hoping is contagious as much as it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bombers\u2019 (7-6) defence has another big test Friday when they host Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts (8-6).<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent opponent, different strategy. Chad Kelly is a very different quarterback from Trevor Harris \u2014 style wise, the way he executes the system,\u201d said Younger.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to try to get them to understand some of his tendencies, what he likes to do, and how to take some of those things away.\u201d<\/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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