Bob Irving
CFL.ca
This is a tale of two Winnipeg Blue Bomber players, one on the comeback trail, and the other in the early stages of a budding career.
Both played critical roles in the Bombers’ season opening 24-16 victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last Friday night.
These two players are Joe Lobedahn and Alex Suber.
When the Bombers signed Lobendahn in March of 2008 out of the University of Washington, it didn’t take long to become enthralled with the Hawaiian-born middle linebacker.
The 5’11”, 235 lbs. Lobendahn showed great range and a certain reckless abandon when it came to bringing down opposing ball carriers. When veteran Barrin Simpson got hurt, Lobendahn took over and made an immediate and lasting impression with his quickness and aggresive style.
Problem was, that Lobendahn’s gung-ho style was hard on his body, and injuries slowed down his progress. He was in and out of the lineup in 2009 due to various injury issues but when he was on the field, Lobendahn was a force.
In 2010, with Simpson gone to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Lobendahn began the season with an eight-tackle, two-sack performance in a win over Hamilton.
However his play went downhill from there due to reasons that were hard to identify.
Was Lobendahn playing hurt? Was he being asked to do things that didn’t play into his strengths? Had he somehow lost his focus? Take your pick. One thing was for sure, when the 2010 season ended, the Bombers were in no rush to re-sign the linebacker.
Still, with memories of his 2008 and 2009 play still sitting relatively fresh in their mind, the Bombers eventually decided to bring Lobendahn back into the fold.
Smart move.
The 28-year old Lobendahn trained hard during the off-season. He changed his diet, lost the 10 lbs. he had put on last season, did some soul-searching, and returned to Winnipeg with something to prove.
The Honolulu native had an excellent training camp and loves the role new defensive coordinator Tim Burke has put him in.
Lobedahn registered four tackles and an interception in Friday night’s win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, proving to the Bombers’ brass that they had made the right decision in bringing him back for the 2011 season.
Blue bomber head coach Paul LaPolice admits that when he first saw defensive back Alex Suber at the club’s 2009 training camp, his reaction was “man, is he ever short.”
However, it didn’t take long for LaPolice to understand why General Manager Joe Mack and player personnel director Ken Moll took the trouble to sign the 5’7” Middle Tennessee State product.
LaPolice says Suber displayed the “quickest feet” he has ever seen in a defensive back and despite his small stature, Suber played his way into a starting spot in the Bomber secondary.
He had a fine rookie campaign for the Bombers, registering 51 tackles and recovering two fumbles. He was also very solid on special teams, recording 11 tackles.
Fast forward to 2011 and Suber has picked up where he left off, and then some. He was all over the field during the Canada Day win in Hamilton, making tackles on defence and on special teams, and returning the first interception of his pro career 66 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Suber is a man of few words, but his actions have spoken loudly and it looks like the 25-year old is headed for a long, successful career.
Joe Lobendahn and Alex Suber, key contributors as the Bombers began 2011 with something they didn’t achieve in all of 2010, a victory on the road.
