The newsworthy training camp storyline has Jeff Hecht in a battle with Derek Jones for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers starting safety job.

But take a step away from that right-here-and-right-now angle and it could be said the most compelling component of this story is that Hecht is in this conversation at all. It’s not just that Hecht was an in-season addition to the Bombers last July following a rash of injuries to their Canadians and weeks after he was dumped by the Saskatchewan Roughriders before their camp even began.

It’s that Hecht, now 33, has managed to carve out a respectable Canadian Football League career that sees him now entering his ninth season with four teams, despite not being drafted and after being cut, traded and forever labelled as too small and too slow.

“It’s not new for me to work hard or fight uphill, that’s essentially my whole career,” began Hecht earlier this week in a chat with bluebombers.com. “Some people say it’s perseverance or hard work, I just say maybe I’m too stupid to quit.”

That last answer is Hecht in a nutshell. He’s honest and he’s blunt – to the point that his straightforward honesty can often set people back on their heels. As head coach Mike O’Shea said of Hecht: “He’s got a way about him and it takes people a little bit of time to appreciate him. But they all come to appreciate him because he’s honest and he’s smart and he’s seen a lot.

“But his delivery sometimes can rub people the wrong way. I appreciate it. That kind of honesty is very welcome in our room.”

Interestingly, in a Bombers secondary in which familiar faces like Chris Randle, Kevin Fogg and Taylor Loffler have moved on, Hecht’s veteran voice and experience could be a critical component.

It was back in his junior days with the Edmonton Wildcats – followed by three years with the St. Mary’s Huskies – that Hecht really began to dive into film study. It wasn’t just a desire to learn and understand, it was Hecht trying to find a competitive advantage that continues to serve him well all these years later.

“Look, I’m 5-9, 205 and I ran a 4.7 at the combine,” said Hecht with a shrug. “That’s the stuff that’s out of my control now. But the academic part of it – the drawing and scripting and studying – is within my control and I do whatever I can to at least separate myself in that category. That’s something I do best and I’m not afraid to speak my mind. With the communication, whether you want it or not I’m going to give it to you.

“Once I got here it was something I prided myself on: always being a guy who could answer questions. I mean, last year four days after I got here guys in the DB (defensive back) room were asking me questions. It’s just something I do. We tell everyone here you’d rather look silly in meetings by asking a question than looking stupid out on the field. If you look silly in meetings you can fix it, if you look stupid on the field, you go home.”

Hecht has lived that part of the game, too. He had a solid rookie season with Montreal in 2011, but was released after the season. He spent the next five years with Calgary, but what his bio doesn’t tell you is how many times he was moved off and on the roster, before the Stamps ultimately traded him to Saskatchewan. The same scenarios unfolded with the Riders, before he was released.

Hecht, who works in scaffolding in the offseason, was preparing to work in Fort McMurray when the Bombers came courting last July.

“I’ve been traded. I was released. I signed here, but I’ve never been able to get comfortable or grow roots,” Hecht said. “In my mind I’ve had to fight to make the team every single day for nine years.

“But I played some of my best football last year. I’m as fast as ever, covering ground and making checks as well as I ever have. I also understand I’m an easy guy in the offseason to get rid of when you look at the measurables, the statistical contributions and age. I’m an easy one to scratch off. That’s happened to me two or three times. But once I’m there in camp I can show the non-measurable ways I can contribute.”

As for the battle for the starting safety chores, Hecht and Jones have an interesting relationship. They’re both Edmonton guys from the same neighbourhood and who attended the same junior high school – although, as Hecht points out with a grin, ‘we were several years apart.’ They sit beside each other in the film room, bounce ideas and concepts off one another.

“In a micro way I look at it as a competition,” Hecht said. “Derek is a such good football player and the fact he’s playing at such a high level after the injury he had is a testament to him and his hard work.

“On a macro level we both understand why we’re here. If it’s not me (starting), I’ll support him, and if it’s me I know he’ll support me. At the end of practice one day this week we were both on the field together because of injury playing the dime and the free. We know we’re both going to be needed to win football games, and most importantly, a Grey Cup.”