Medlock in a zone with Blue Bombers
CFL: With baby on the way and kicking field goals with ease, life is good for Winnipeg player
He’s bounced around a few leagues and almost too many teams to count since the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs drafted him nine years ago.
Even north of the border, where he’s the CFL’s most accurate fieldgoal kicker of all time, he’s on his third team in six seasons.
But Justin Medlock, at 32, hopes he’s finally found a long-term home.
Signing with Winnipeg on the first day of free agency last winter, Medlock went into the Bombers’ bye week caught between a groove and a real good place, having made 14 consecutive kicks and, the Bombers on a three-game roll of their own, reaffirming the decision he made in February.
“No regrets,” Medlock said from his home in Jupiter, Fla. “I love being in Winnipeg and the situation I’m in. As long as I perform well, this is a place I can play for a while.”
Medlock seems to have answered any lingering questions about the performing part.
His run of 14 field goals is one shy of his longest career streak, and second only to the current 20-for-20 run by Calgary’s Rene Paredes.
After a 7-for-11 start, he’s back in the zone.
The karma is flowing in his personal life, too.
After battling the symptoms of lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease, for a couple of years, Medlock’s wife, former professional golfer Hannah Jun Medlock, was this year given the all-clear to try to have a baby.
“It’s exciting. We found out the sex of the baby today,” Medlock said. “Hopefully we’ll announce that pretty soon.” So life is good on all fronts. Just don’t ask Medlock how many kicks he’s made in a row.
Apparently a man who brings an almost fanatical attention to detail to his work doesn’t keep track of such things.
“I don’t really know,” Medlock said. “I just go out there and try to go one-for-one. I’m just getting settled in. Hopefully, we can keep it up and keep putting 12 guys on the field.”
Medlock laughed, recalling the time the Bombers were penalized earlier this season because holder Weston Dressler was late getting on the field.
Those hiccups have disappeared and Winnipeg’s kicking game is clicking, something you couldn’t couldn’t count on last season.
In addition to his three-pointers, Medlock and his cover teams are out-punting the opposition (38.7yard net average to 34.3) and he’s winning the kickoff battle (67.9 yards to 64.7). So he’s come over from Hamilton exactly as advertised, $185,000 price tag and all.
Make the suggestion he left the Tiger-Cats for money, though, and Medlock gives it a swift boot.
What caused the California product to choose Winnipeg was the environment created by head coach Mike O’Shea and Chad Rempel, the long snapper he’s known for years.
“I wanted to be in a situation where it was a little bit more of a calmer environment,” Medlock said. “I really like playing for O’Shea and being around Rempel — I thought he’d give me a great shot at being successful punting the ball.”
The one thing that might have held Medlock back from signing with the Bombers — the organization’s perpetual losing — didn’t.
He said it’s a cycle any team can go through.
“Yeah, it’s been rocky,” he said. “But it turns.”
If and when it does, look out, Medlock says.