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Darryl Dyck \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive linemen Patrick Neufeld (left) and Stanley Bryant (right) are two of the club\u2019s veteran core that have been part of the golden-era run of two Grey Cups and five championship game appearances between 2019 and 2024.<\/p>\n
That adds another layer of importance to Friday\u2019s regular-season finale in Vancouver. The Bombers (8-9) need to beat the B.C. Lions (10-7) to make the playoffs and write at least one more chapter with this group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d be good to keep this thing going for certain guys like that. Let\u2019s go give us an opportunity to go compete at a Grey Cup this year,\u201d said running back Brady Oliveira after Wednesday\u2019s closed practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe roster is always different every single year. But, obviously, there\u2019s guys that you can\u2019t even put into words how important they\u2019ve been to this organization, and it\u2019s for guys like that you just want to win one more with and celebrate with. That\u2019s what creeps into my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one has announced that this will be their final season. And according to Jefferson, the subject of next year\u2019s plans doesn\u2019t come up often.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not one of the questions that I ask. I don\u2019t want to ask those type of questions to guys that are older,\u201d said Jefferson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I get asked those questions during the season, it\u2019s like, \u2018Why?\u2019 It\u2019s not something I was thinking about, it\u2019s not something that I want to think about\u2026 With me being a veteran, being in this league as long as I have, I\u2019ve learned that\u2019s one of the questions that guys don\u2019t want to think about during the season \u2014 especially when things are not going as well as you expect them to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never mind talking about the future, Neufeld said it\u2019s difficult to even find time to think about it amid the daily grind of professional football.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tough one because you\u2019re so focused on this, especially where we\u2019re at in the season,\u201d said Neufeld.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t really have the capacity to think about anything other than this B.C. game. We\u2019ve been treating this like a playoff game this week and it\u2019s too much emotion to think about anything other than trying to find a way to win this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant has been asked about retirement for years. He has managed to keep Father Time at bay, but as the league\u2019s third-oldest player, it\u2019s difficult to envision the CFL\u2019s most decorated offensive lineman playing much longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want things to end because football is one of those things you feel like you could do forever,\u201d said Bryant.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you just try to stay locked in week to week and think of the best scenario in your head and that\u2019s making it to the Grey Cup and winning it. And then you can make a decision after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether this core group breaks up after this week, next week, next month, or further down the line, its members know how fortunate they\u2019ve been to play together for as long as they have.<\/p>\n
Neufeld, 37, recently suited up in his 200th CFL game. Eighty per cent of those appearances have come alongside Bryant on the offensive line, while Collaros has started at quarterback for nearly half of them.<\/p>\n
The Bombers\u2019 core is an anomaly in a league where rosters turn over on an annual basis. Few groups of teammates have stayed together as long or enjoyed as many winning seasons, highlighted by two Grey Cup wins and five appearances between 2019 and 2024.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Mike Sudoma \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Defensive end Willie Jefferson said Wednesday he and the club\u2019s other core veterans are only focusing on the present season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible environment to be in every day and to create bonds that will last way beyond being in this building,\u201d said Neufeld.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are guys who I consider family, who my kids call uncle. That\u2019s way more important than wins and losses, those relationships and those bonds that have been made sweating, bleeding, getting hurt together, and celebrating enormous wins together has been extremely special.\u201d<\/p>\n No one is in denial. Everyone knows the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n The retirements of Adam Bighill, Jake Thomas and Chris Streveler in the off-season were another reminder that change is inevitable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a business. Those ideas, those thoughts creep into your mind, but you take a deep breath and you look at what\u2019s around you,\u201d said Jefferson.<\/p>\n \u201cThings don\u2019t last forever and you never know. But the thing is, we\u2019re still in the season and have a good amount of football to play if we handle our business this week.\u201d<\/p>\n Neufeld admits he has thought about how this era of Bombers football will be remembered.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully well. You see how people remember those teams from the \u201980s and we\u2019ve had a tremendous amount of success here and had a really great run with those five Grey Cups and going to the playoffs every year since 2016,\u201d said Neufeld.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of really, really great players, Hall of Fame players, Bomber Hall of Fame players. And I hope people understand that and know we do this for our fans. Blue Bomber fans have given us so much and we want to make them proud and hopefully, people can appreciate that. They can look back at some point and be like, \u2018Hey, that was a great team. Remember that guy? Remember this play?\u2019 I think that\u2019d be very special.\u201d<\/p>\n So would one final run, especially when few would expect it given how inconsistent this season has been.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know what we got to do,\u201d said Bryant. \u201cWe know we can do it, we just got to do it and put it all together.\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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