Hefney reunites with Murphy and Campbell

Back when Jonathan Hefney was a free agent after an outstanding career with the University of Tennessee Volunteers, it was the combination of John Murphy and Rick Campbell that helped bring him to the CFL.

It was 2009 and Murphy was the director of player personnel for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers while Campbell was the defensive backs coach/special teams coordinator.

“They were the guys that brought me in back when I was sitting in Tennessee taking classes,” Hefney said. “They were like come to Florida and go to training camp. They brought me in to Winnipeg and the rest was history.”

After three all-star seasons, the Blue Bombers recently decided to part ways with the 28-year-old.

Now, Murphy and Campbell are with the Calgary Stampeders, and helped bring the linebacker/defensive back to Cowtown.

“For them to call me and offer me the opportunity, I had no other choice than to come,” Hefney said.

It’s the experience with Campbell that should help Hefney be a quick study on the defensive terminologies, with head coach John Hufnagel hoping to get Hefney into action just two days from now in Saskatchewan for the second pre-season game.

“Some of the stuff I had already learned back in Winnipeg with coach Campbell, it’s pretty much just me refreshing what I did in Winnipeg and I think that’ll be good,” Hefney said.

In his first practice with the red and white on Tuesday morning, Hefney lined up at strong-side linebacker, a position typically manned by Keon Raymond, who is currently hobbled with an ankle injury.

“He’s on board to compete for a job,” Hufnagel said. “He’s got to get ready in a short amount of time to be able to play him against Saskatchewan.

“He’s a veteran of the Canadian Football League and can bring a lot to the table.”

Whether Hefney continues to play SAM linebacker when Raymond is healthy is problem Hufnagel will deal with down the road.

“We’ll see how he does at the SAM linebacker right now,” Hufnagel said. “He’s very versatile and has played at numerous positions in Winnipeg. We’ll just play it day-by-day.”

“We were a little knicked up in the secondary and are fortunate that he decided to come to us.”

Last season, Hefney started all 18 games for the Blue Bombers at either halfback or strong-side linebacker. He led the club with 74 tackles, along with four fumble recoveries, three special-teams tackles, one sack, four tackles for loss, three pass knockdowns, one forced fumble and one interception

For his CFL career, the 28-year-old Rock Hill, S.C., native has played 60 games and amassed 241 tackles, including nine tackles for loss, two sacks, 13 interceptions, 26 pass knockdowns, six fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.

He was the East Division’s finalist for the Most Outstanding Rookie award in 2009.

>> Video: Hefney talks to the media

Consistency in the backfield

Stampeders linebackers coach Don Yanowsky is excited for the upcoming season with a very familiar and — knock on wood — healthy group at his disposal.

Last season, the linebacking corps experienced injuries on the strong side as three different players made starts at the position including Keon Raymond, who shifted over from cornerback.

“I’m lucky,” says Yanowsky. “They can play in a lot of different ways and in different spaces on the field. This allows us to have much more flexibility and creativity on the defense.”

This year, the Stamps are returning many of the linebackers who played key roles on a team that came just shy of winning the Grey Cup last year.

Stalwarts such as West Division all-star Juwan Simpson, Malik Jackson, Karl McCartney return along with last year’s West Division final starter Deron Mayo, adding continuity to a group.

“It makes life easier and better. (The vets) know how to prepare; they know how to play the game. Now they just have to go out there and fine-tune things,” says Coach Yanowsky.

Just because there are a lot of familiar faces, it doesn’t mean guys are complacent.

“I think the best thing I’ve seen is a lot of guys competing,” says the second-year Stamps coach. “We have a lot of veteran guys who are coming back and have been around, but healthy competition is always a good thing.”

As the regular season creeps closer, the outlook on the Stamps linebackers gets a little clearer.

“I expect us to be athletic and productive at that position,” says Yanowsky. “Because we have some guys who can play.”

Kinnie continues to live his dream

In the months leading up to Brandon Kinnie joining the Calgary Stampeders, a certain experience showed the 24-year-old wide receiver two key lessons — how blessed he truly is, and how he’s not yet ready to give up on his dream.

As a way to pay the bills while also training for the next football call, Kinnie put his sociology degree to good use, working with a group home in Springfield, Mo.

“It gave me a different take on life,” Kinnie said about working with troubled and mentally challenged kids. “It humbled me a lot more seeing those types of things, thanking god that I didn’t have to grow up in situations like that. But also being a mentor to them, making them happy, showing them different things like that.

“Of course, you’d rather being playing sports that you loved but it also showed me what I could be doing. And I wasn’t ready to work full-time just yet.

“I feel like I have a lot of football left in me, and I know I do.”

So he’d work out at a local college during his time off with his cousin, keeping in shape, running routes and catching passes while waiting for the next tryout.

The University of Nebraska grad previously spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, as well as the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League.

A few days before training camp, he was signed by the Stampeders.

Having played college ball at Nebraska, Kinnie knew a little about the CFL.

“I knew about it, but I didn’t know everything inside of it,” Kinnie said. “The beginning was OK and I did the arena football thing in Spokane for like two weeks so the motion wasn’t so new to me. I was kind of used to it, doing that for at least two weeks.”

But he’s been prepared to be a fast learner.  

“It’s strictly football,” Kinnie declared. “Playbook, practice, sleep and it’s all over again. I’m just thankful for this opportunity, I’m thankful for being sore and tired.”

In his first true game action in the CFL last week against the BC Lions, Kinnie had one of the plays of the night, hauling in a 38-yard catch and run from Bo Levi Mitchell that helped set up a touchdown.

Kinnie wasn’t satisfied, though.

“It could have been better, a whole lot better,” Kinnie said regarding his play. “It’s just learning and getting better every day, learning from your mistakes, and knowing that you had a couple of catches, but that doesn’t mean anything. You could still be gone tomorrow.”

Transactions

• Signed import DB Jonathan Hefney
• Released non-import OL Dale Stevenson

Tomorrow’s Schedule

The Stamps have a walkthrough from 10:30 a.m. to approximately 11:30 a.m. at McMahon Stadium.