Q: You were awarded with CFL Special Teams Player of the Month honours for July. You’ve had a great start to your first season in Hamilton. From a personal perspective, what’s working for you right now? What’s clicking?
JM: Kevin Scott the snapper is doing a great job and Jason Boltus the holder is doing a great job. We’re just getting in sync. I feel like as the weeks go on, we’re doing better and better. I’m just helping out the team and we’re putting balls inside the twenty, so that’s always good.
Q: What’s it like kicking at Ivor Wynne, with regards to kicking conditions especially the swirling winds?
JM: The wind gusts a bit, but at the same time, I’ve always had this saying that if you give me field turf, I don’t really care what the wind does. So I’m not really too phased by the wind… just don’t give me grass (laughs).
Q: You’re normally the first player from either team out on the field before pre-game warm ups even start. Why do you come out onto the field so early? And what are you thinking about?
JM: I’ve always done it. I always walk my targets and pick my targets well before I actually come out at game time. That’s basically all it really is. That and just doing some ball reception stuff for punting. But mainly it’s just picking my targets for field goals and mentally getting in the zone.
Q: As you alluded to earlier, you’ve established a good working relationship between yourself, the long snapper Kevin Scott and the holder Jason Boltus. What is your relationship like with those two guys off of the field?
JM: It’s good. Kevin and I hang out a lot. We lift together. And Boltus is a good guy. I Facebook’ed him at the beginning of the season just to let him know he’d be my holder and sent him a video and showed him what I needed him to do. And he’s been nothing but receptive about it. It’s been good.
Q: You played for the Argos in 2009. Explain what it is going to be like for them coming into Ivor Wynne to play this Saturday?
JM: Coach Bellefeuille was talking about how even though their record hasn’t been good to start the season, they’re going to come in ready to play. In my opinion, throw away the records. It’s a big rivalry game. The Battle of Ontario. Both of us are going to come in like we’re 0-0 and ready to play. That’s how the rivalry goes.
Q: What has been your highest pressure kick this season?
JM: Every kick is big. I always say no kick is bigger than another.
Q: Do you have any rituals or superstitions on game day?
JM: I have rituals that I go through. Not too many. I just warm up, give myself a second to focus in and breathe. I told the other kicker Josh Maveety, when he first got here, “hey, all joking aside, and I always joke around, but right before I go out to kick, no one talk to me,” (laughs).
Q: You wear number seven. That was Bo Smith’s number last season. Did he willingly change to 14 with your arrival in the off-season? Or did you have to wrestle him away from it?
JM: No, I don’t know, I guess he switched. Which is a good thing because we probably would have wrestled. I’ve always been seven since I was a kid, playing soccer and then at UCLA. I asked my coach at UCLA if I could get number seven, and I got it. I’ve been a couple of other numbers along the way that I don’t like so much, so this is good.
Q: With Toronto in town this weekend, you have to be aware of their dangerous kick and punt returner Chad Owens. Are you ever hesitant kicking to a guy like that?
JM: Kicking off, it doesn’t really matter what they’re doing back there, we can kick it off wherever we want to kick it off. It’s just punting. We’ve got to punt to Owens and get down there and cover. My room mate is Andre Durie, the Argos off returner, so I told him they better be ready because we’ll be coming hard. It’s funny, we have some good chats.
Q: Not too many people know that your girlfriend is a professional golfer. How is her season going? And have you had a chance to play a round or two yourself on the Tiger-Cats off days?
JM: I play all of the time. I actually played yesterday with Stala and Glenn MacKay. And her season hasn’t been going as well this year. She just got invited to an LPGA event next week though. But it’s good, I push her hard and we have that athlete relationship. We know each other and how athletes function. I caddy for her sometimes in the off-season too, which means I haven’t been caddying for her lately. So now if she’s playing bad, blame it on the caddy!
