Full credit to Bombers’ wives

REGINA — Grey Cup week means a little extra to Willie and Holly Jefferson.

It’s the time of year when the top prize in the three-down game is on the line, but for the Jeffersons, it’s also a reminder of what brought them together.

“We met each other at a Halloween party in 2010 in Austin, Texas, which is where I’m from, and we basically haven’t stopped talking since then. But you know, relationships have their ups and downs,” Holly told the Free Press.

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Holly Jefferson, who was pregnant with Rielley at the time, with Willie and their daughter Kelley

“We didn’t talk for almost a year and a half and then he called me up in 2015 and was like ‘Hey, I’m in the CFL. We’re going to the Grey Cup, it’s like the Super Bowl, and I want you there.’ And that was our first time reconnecting after a year and a half of not talking to each other. So, we reconnected at the Grey Cup, which is why the Grey Cup is so special to us.”

Willie, now a star defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was playing for Edmonton at the time and they ended up beating the Ottawa RedBlacks 26-20 to hoist the silver mug. It was Holly’s first time up in Canada and the game happened in a place that the Jeffersons would call home a few years later — Winnipeg.

“I told her that I’d take care of everything. I just wanted her to be there for me. She pretty much dropped everything and made it happen,” said Willie after Wednesday’s practice.

“She got her passport expedited and made her way to Winnipeg to see me play and ever since then, we’ve been together. It’s been a long and hard, but beautiful journey and I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”

The following season, Willie signed a futures contract with Washington’s NFL team. They ended up letting him go in August, leading to Willie returning to the CFL and joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He’d play three seasons for the Riders, but when Willie hit free agency in 2019, he left Saskatchewan for their Prairie rival. It’s worked out incredibly well as the Bombers have made the Grey Cup, winning the last two, every year since. This year’s big game sees the Jeffersons returning to familiar territory as the Bombers take on the Toronto Argonauts at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium on Sunday.

“It’s amazing to now be with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and going back to Sask. where I swear, they got rid of their goose too soon. Now he’s over here laying golden eggs and they’re missing out,” said Holly with a laugh.

“So, it really has come full circle for us. Going back to Sask., and potentially winning his fourth Grey Cup, and third for Winnipeg, is awesome.”

Willie and Holly used to spend half the year back home in Texas, but they made the decision to settle down in Winnipeg year-round last spring. They have two daughters, four-year-old Kelley, and a two-month-old named Rielley who was born in Winnipeg. The family has fully embraced the city — yes, even the weather (they moved in right before Winnipeg was hit with a late blizzard in April) — and Holly became the new host of the Blue Bombers Women’s Club this season.

Willie never imagined things would’ve turned out as well as they have, on and off the field, when he initially signed a one-year contract with the Bombers back in 2019.

“It’s somewhat of a dream come true, man. It’s like a fairytale,” Willie said. “I found my princess and now we’re just trying to build our castle in a snowy oasis.”

Willie gives Holly a ton of credit for helping him reach the Grey Cup for a third straight year and believes most players owe their personal accolades to the support they receive from their significant others.

His teammate, linebacker Adam Bighill, couldn’t agree more. Bighill, his wife Kristina, and their three kids, seven-year-old A.J., five-year-old Leah, and three-year-old Beau, have put down roots in the same neighbourhood as the Jeffersons. The Bighills moved here shortly after Adam signed with the Bombers in 2018 after spending the previous year in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints. Before that, Adam played six years with the B.C. Lions, which his where he met Kristina, a Vancouver native.

“She’s really been the rock of our family. She’s really had to sacrifice everything for me to be able to live my dream and support our family,” Adam said.

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Adam Bighill surrounded by his family, wife Kristina, daughter Leah, and sons A.J. (front, left) and Beau.

“I couldn’t do what I do at such a high level and do it consistently without her support and her understanding. I put a lot of time into this game that is not mandatory time. I put in a lot of time and a lot of work to really be able to outwork people. That requires me to be gone a lot, to be gone early, and being back late. When it comes to football, there’s never any complaints or disgruntlement or making me feel a certain type of way about what I do. There’s never been any sign of that. She just makes me feel comfortable that I can do what I need to do to be the best.”

Kristina had to leave family, friends, her career, and much nicer temperatures in Vancouver to take the plunge in Winnipeg with Adam. She always thought living in B.C. was going to be their long-term plan, but Winnipeg officially felt like home when their youngest son was born here. Beau was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate — the same condition Adam was born with — and had to have several surgeries.

“When we announced that, the community supported us. We had so many people reach out to us that have used the Children’s Hospital and shared similar stories that either their children were born with a cleft, or that they had to utilize the hospital in some sort of way,” said Kristina. “Because when that happened, Beau was born in 2019 right before COVID. So, when COVID happened and he had his first surgery, it was really just me and Adam and we didn’t have any family here at the time. But hearing from people throughout the community made me feel like I had this big family supporting us and supporting Beau so it was really something that I will always, always remember.”

Not only has Kristina supported Adam, but she has also helped other wives and girlfriends on the team, like Holly, feel comfortable in Winnipeg. The players consistently talk about how the locker room feels like a family, but that family-like bond is also felt by those who aren’t wearing the helmets and pads.

“We’re all such a close-knit group and being together for the last three years, a lot of the same families and kids have all grown up together and look forward to seeing each other during the season. We were just chatting in our wives and girlfriends group chat about the hotel we’re staying in in Regina and how there’s a waterslide and how we’re already planning when the kids are going to get together,” said Kristina.

“The off-season is hard because some of my kids, and I know it’s the same for lot of the other families, their closest friends are the children of other players on the team. It’s just a great community and a great group of ladies to be around.”

Holly and her daughters will be driving to Regina with Kristina and her trio and they’re hoping this week ends the same way that it did in 2019 and 2021 — by celebrating on a confetti-filled field with Willie and Adam. First, however, Holly and Kristina have a job that’s even more difficult than trying to slow down Andrew Harris and the Argos.

“Well, we’re driving this year, so I’m having to find things to keep the kids entertained in the car and make sure all the iPads are working,” said Kristina. “But it’ll be fun. We’ll have to have a few stops along the way, but it’ll be good.”

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Twitter: @TaylorAllen31