Johany Jutras
“I love hitting and being physical.”
Hoo, boy, does he ever.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie linebacker Khalil Bass was summing up his penchant for attempting to remove a ball carrier’s socks with a tackle. The 25-year-old from Encino, California has turned heads – and kept those of his opponents on swivels – since donning the blue and gold at the beginning of this season. Now, as September creeps into October, Bass’ name must be included in discussions over which first year player has had the most impact in 2015.
His is a story of dogged determination. He’d spent time away from football helping run his father’s canine daycare business. “Cleaning up the dog poop and dog pee and feeding them and taking them on walks,” he says of his post-college and pre-Bombers time. That was a time during which he spent hours continually contacting football teams, looking for a break. Now that he’s gotten that break, Khalil Bass is making the most of it, hoping to help the Bombers grab a little momentum, looking forward to playing a particular team that rejected him, and not worrying about what the signing of another linebacker might mean for his playing time going forward.
With 59 tackles, Bass stands fifth in the CFL, just a couple of tackles out of third. With four sacks to his credit, the graduate of Portland State has been all over the field during his rookie campaign, even with a move from middle linebacker – something he’d been quite used to playing – to weak side linebacker as the Bombers’ emerged from training camp.
“More than anything, I was just hungry and excited to be in any kind of uniform, really,” Bass says of the momentum he quickly harnessed, once he’d been invited to mini-camp, an opportunity he’d been trying to secure for nearly three years, without success. In 2014, he put on a full court press, trying to entice someone to take a chance on him.
“I emailed every single team every week of last season,” he says, laughing at the memory.
There was frustration and there must have been a healthy dose of second-guessing as well. But the determination Bass showed during that process is something he says he’s had his whole life, at least as far as football goes. “I grew up with an older brother (Kevin) who’s four years older than me so I was always tryin’ to keep up with him and his friends,” he says, reporting that he was able to hold his own pretty decently from the get go.
“I surpassed him when I got to high school,” Bass says of his brother. “He’s taller but I’m a whole lot stronger,” he laughs.
Bass says he didn’t hear back from every CFL team he contacted last year, but the ones he did hear from – outside of Winnipeg – weren’t exactly laying out the welcome mat for him. While he holds no bitterness about that, he does admit it can add to a player’s motivation, generally speaking. Specifically, he is very much looking forward to a game on October 16th.
“Been waitin’ for that one for a while,” says Bass, of his first meeting with the Ottawa REDBLACKS. “They basically just told me I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t fast enough, I couldn’t move well in space and things like that. For a guy who’s been trying to make it for the past two and a half, three years, that’s not exactly what you want to hear.”
Nothing personal, Bass says. Just that a player can feel a little extra ‘oomph,’ sometimes. “I will when we play Ottawa, absolutely,” he says.
With Bass playing at an all-star level, the Bombers face some interesting decisions now that they’ve welcomed back Ian Wild, who signed with them on Tuesday. Wild, who had 73 tackles last season, is most suited to the position, most agree, that Bass is playing now. Head Coach Mike O’Shea wasn’t committing to nailing down what his linebacker set will look like, only that Wild would need time to be integrated once again. It isn’t out of the question that both Wild and Bass will be on the field at the same time. When presented with the notion that a four linebacker set might be seen from time to time, the coach replied “Yep.”
For his part, Bass won’t worry about that. “I’m not sure how, exactly, he’s (Wild’s) gonna fit in but I haven’t been told that I’m gonna be taken off the field,” he says. “Wherever they wanna put me, I’m fine with that.”
Not surprising that a guy who wanted to play Division I college football, but didn’t get the opportunity, would opt for that approach. A man who knocked on doors for about three years, looking for an opportunity, is not going to be too fussy about where he is on the football field, caring only that he is on the field itself.
“I’m the same way no matter what,” Bass says. “My goal is just to get everybody playing the same way and hope that we can get some wins in the next few weeks.”
It is absolutely crucial that the Bombers start getting into the win column, asap. They are on the outside of the playoff fringes right now, facing a daunting task against the defending champions, the Calgary Stampeders, on Friday night.
“These next few games, they’re gonna be extremely important,” Bass says, adding that it is his belief that the Blue Bombers are still in an optimistic frame of mind. “Defensively, I know everyone’s mindset is we can get the job done. Offensively, they’re gonna do what they can do.”
“Obviously, I’d hope for a better outcome in our season as a team,” says Bass of Winnipeg’s 4-8 record. That’s what matters most to him, but after a few years in the football desert, begging for a drop of water, Bass can take stock of, and feel pride in, his quick growth as a CFL linebacker.
“Personally, it’s getting more comfortable as I play more games in this league,” he says.
Which should mean even more knock-your-socks-off hits from one of the CFL’s premier first-year players.
