After being drafted by the Alouettes in 2010 and donning the red, white and blue for four years, Burlington native Ryan Bomben moved closer to home and spent three seasons in a Ticats uniform. Now, the All-Star offensive lineman is coming back to where it all started… with somewhat of a bittersweet feeling.
“I think I’m in a pretty unique situation, he says. I’m going back to where it began for me three years after being traded. It’s exciting because I’ve heard only good things about Kavis, and Coach Sherman has had quite the successful coaching career in the NFL. I’m looking forward to facing the challenges on the field, but I also know that it’ll be a challenge to try to figure things out with my family.”
Ryan is happily married. He’s a proud father of one daughter and has a second one on the way. He and his wife spent the last six months waiting on their house to be built. Life is good, but it’s also full of surprises.
There can be many hiccups in a professional athlete’s career and being bounced back and forth from one part of the country to another is certainly one of the biggest ones.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do yet. My wife will probably want to stay in our new house for a while. We still need to figure out the logistics, but I know we’ll make it work.”
One thing is for certain, Ryan, or the Bomb-Train as his team mates like to call him, will be starting his new journey in familiar territory coming June.
“I played with Luc (Brodeur-Jourdain) and Kristian (Matte) for five years and with Xavier (Fulton) for a year back in Hamilton. I know these guys pretty well. Luc, Pat (Lavoie) and I actually got together in Ottawa for the Grey Cup this past year and now we’re all on the same team again. It’s kind of cool. Plus, it’s a veteran group, every one of those guys, including Jovan (Olafioye) and Philip (Blake), have played quite a bit, so I’m hoping I’ll fit right back in.”
In addition to being reunited with his pals, Bomb-Train will get to visit his favourite Montreal spots and chow down on some delicious Dunn’s smoked meat. But most importantly, he will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening a group that was sorely afflicted by injury last year. Alongside first draft pick Trey Rutherford, Bomben arrives at a crucial time for the Als, when increasing national depth of the offensive line is a priority.
“Ryan is a blessing. He’s a perennial All-Star player, he knows our culture and he is going to have an immediate impact on the team,” says GM Kavis Reed.
So many personnel and roster moves have been made during the off-season that it’s hard to believe anyone from the football operations team has had an actual off day in the last few months. We’re glad to have you back, Bomb-Train, and we are more than eager to see all our new elements come together at training camp, starting May 20th.
