‘Truly a difference maker’

For Jarome Penner, it was about embracing the good and letting go of the bad.

The Winnipeg Rifles receiver, admittedly, grew up a perfectionist, harping on the things he failed at and not giving himself enough credit for what he did well.

“At the end of the day, sometimes that’s going to haunt you more than it’s going to help you,” Penner said Tuesday.

When he arrived at the Rifles as a highly touted recruit from Sturgeon Heights Collegiate, those traits reared their ugly heads more than once as he acclimated to playing with bigger and stronger players.

“Like a lot of kids, you’re a big fish in a small pond when you come out of high school. He was the dude and all that stuff, then he comes and you’re playing against full-grown men, and he just didn’t have the confidence,” said Rifles head coach Geordie Wilson.

“I can remember him before a game… he was always kind of a worrier, and he didn’t have the self-confidence. And that comes with maturity of getting reps and practice and everything else.”

This spring, Penner reached a turning point while taking part in Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie camp. The 20-year-old watched the way other aspiring pros — many of whom were older and had National Football League experience — carried themselves each day, and he listened to how they spoke.

“A lot of those guys, it’s all positive self-talk,” Penner said. “Rather than, ‘You’re not good enough, you didn’t make that play,’ (it’s), ‘Move on to the next play, make it next time. There’s nothing you can do about it now.’”

Those lessons have served Penner well in his third year in the Canadian Junior Football League. He’s emerged as a star for the Rifles, and his play is gaining recognition across the country as the Prairie Conference’s leader in catches (34) and yards (567) through six weeks.

The 5-9, 180-pound pass-catcher, who punches well above his weight, had the best game of his career on Sunday, hauling in 15 passes for 221 yards and his second touchdown of the season, in a high-scoring 41-40 defeat to the Regina Thunder.

“I’m very happy with it,” said Penner. “I kind of wanted to start breaking out last year, and with the circumstances we were given — with quarterbacks quitting and stuff — I wasn’t able to do that, and it was hard to get the offence going last year. This year, bringing in (quarterback) Riley (Element) and our O-line aging together as a group, it really clicks everything together. We have Kaiden Banfield in the backfield, so that gives the defence a running threat as well, which can give me some more freedom, so I’ve been really seeing all the dots connect. It’s really good.”

In the grand scheme of things, Penner finding his confidence on the field pales in comparison to the other feats he achieved.

At 16, he was diagnosed with a spinal infection that immobilized him for two weeks and caused him to miss a year of football, which turned into two years due to the pandemic. The infection forced surgeons to remove a disc from Penner’s back and doctors weren’t convinced he’d play football again.

He arrived at the Rifles with just two years of high school football under his belt — Grade 9 and Grade 12.

“It definitely gives you goosebumps,” he said. “I can’t thank anybody but God, because the doctor said I shouldn’t even be playing football anymore. So that’s a miracle on its own, but it’s definitely very exciting and it’s good to see a lot of the hard work pay off.”

Penner’s size and medical history have left a huge chip on his shoulder. Wilson called him a “fully committed athlete,” noting the care he puts into his training, recovery and nutrition to optimize his ability on the field is second to none.

“It’s his mental maturity and his confidence level, it’s just way different,” Wilson said. “He’s become truly a difference maker.”

Despite losing four straight contests, the Rifles — who at 2-4 are in a four-way tie for third place — are as confident as they’ve been in years.

Their early results have come without several of their top players on both sides of the ball who were lost to injury, and Wilson anticipates a few will return for the last two games of the regular season — most notably, Banfield, who has missed the last three games with a high-ankle sprain.

“Our kids have been playing their asses off,” said Wilson.

“We’ve had a lot of education this year. So the good thing is — and I do believe this — that we’ll be in the playoffs. And the thing is, I don’t think there’s a team in the league that wants to play us.”

The Rifles are back in action for their penultimate regular-season contest against the Wildcats (2-4) at Maple Grove Rugby Park on Sunday (2 p.m.).

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam