By Jim Bender
You have got to love it when the new placekicker-hopeful mentions the Banjo Bowl in his first Zoom interview with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers media.
Tyler Crapigna, after all, has lived it.
The Bombers pounced on an opportunity to sign the experienced CFL placekicker just after the Montreal Alouettes released him.
“I’m very happy to be on this team because I’ve been on the other side when those Banjo Bowl games come around and it does get quite loud, so I’m happy to be on this side kicking in this stadium,” said the former Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker.
The Banjo Bowl, of course, was borne out of a smart-aleck snipe uttered by Troy Westwood — then a Bombers placekicker.
Crapigna has always enjoyed kicking at IG Field, with its sunken field. But he has more important hardware than the Banjo Bowl trophy on his mind.
“This was an opportunity that arose and I felt like, ‘What better place to be than in Winnipeg with the defending Grey Cup champs and hopefully, going back to back?’” he said. “I just want to be a part of a winning team here and it’s definitely a situation that I thought was gonna be a great one for me.”
Crapigna, 28, joins Marc (Legs) Liegghio, the only other kicker in training camp. While Liegghio, who has yet to suit up for a professional football game, can handle both punting and placekicking chores, Crapigna has been concentrating on placekicking and kickoffs.
“I think we would be a great tandem – two young Canadian kickers,” he said. “So, if that’s the route they want to take, then I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea conceded that dressing both a punter and placekicker might be do-able.
After an injury ended his 2017 in Saskatchewan, Crapigna has since kicked for both the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal. The Alouettes had five kickers in camp and released Crapigna after just one week.
“One door closes and another one opens, and I’m just excited to be here,” said Crapigna, who boasts an 85.2% field goal average.
Crapigna, who hails from Nepean, Ont., used the pandemic break to establish a career in financial advising in Ottawa while training for football with borrowed weights at home, hoping there would be another CFL season sometime.
“I just kind of stayed in shape that way, then snuck onto a few fields here and there,” he said. “To get some kicks in.”
Crapigna also called himself a “serviceable” punter if pressed into those duties.
But there was no word on whether or not he plays the banjo.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF: During the pandemic break, Tui Eli was named a Tribal Chief in his family’s Samoan village in Hawaii, following his father’s lineage.
Although he was born in Richmond, B.C., his family moved to Kailua Kona, Hawaii when Tui was in Grade 10 because his father (Vaeluaga) Eli had been asked to sit on the board of a Christian missionary organization. Tui played football for the high school team and earned a scholarship to the University of Hawaii.
“Last year and a half, I spent some time in Hawaii with my parents and in Montana with my girl friend and her family, doing some work with Tribal Ways Ministry,” said the offensive lineman. “It’s a non-profit organization that reaches out to the First Nation-Indigenous People of the Flathead Reservation in Montana, and I spent some time with my nephew.”
Eli’s father, who is also a chief, had been a missionary in Canada, working with First Nations people.
BIG DEAL: After Mercy Maston suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, the Bombers acquired defensive back Alden Darby from Toronto to replace such a key figure on their defence. Winnipeg sent American O-lineman Terry Poole to the Argos.
