The Winnipeg Blue Bombers don’t appear to have any height restrictions when looking for players and the team’s head coach used some historical examples to illustrate why.
“You would cut Pinball Clemons if you had a height requirement,” Mike O’Shea told the media in Winnipeg on Wednesday. “Charles Roberts, you would cut if you had a height requirement. The list goes on and on and on. Gizmo Williams, you’d cut. Chad Owens, so it’s a pretty easy answer.”
All four of the players O’Shea mentioned is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Clemons, Roberts, and Williams were all listed at five-foot-six, while Owens was listed at five-foot-eight. According to his official pro day listing, however, Owens was actually only a little taller than five-foot-seven.
Though it remains to be seen if any will make the Hall of Fame, there are plenty of relatively short players in Winnipeg’s training camp.
Peyton Logan, one of the team’s biggest free agent additions, is officially listed at five-foot-eight, though measured a little under five-foot-seven at his pro day. Jerreth Sterns, a veteran receiver brought over from Saskatchewan, is listed at five-foot-nine but was under five-foot-eight at his pro day.
The shortest player on Winnipeg’s roster (officially) is rookie running back Quinton Cooley at five-foot-seven. Interestingly, he measured a little above that at his pro day.
Regardless, the CFL has long been a league that provides opportunities for players who lack the prototypical size to play in the NFL.
This isn’t just the case on the offensive side of the ball, either, as James ‘Quick’ Parker, a Hall of Fame pass rusher, was officially listed at five-foot-ten. Adam Bighill, one of the best linebackers in CFL history, measured under five-foot-ten at his pro day. Folarin Orimolade and Bryce Carter, two of the league’s best current defensive ends, are both under six foot.
Though O’Shea is relatively tall — he was officially listed at six-foot-three — he appreciates what smaller players can accomplish when given an opportunity to perform. In many ways, height is just a number.
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