Blitz and Bloom

John Bowman built a career on consistency in a league that rarely offers it.

Fourteen seasons.
All with Montreal.
Over 130 sacks.
Two Grey Cups.
A Canadian Football Hall of Fame career.

But this conversation goes beyond production.

From a small school at Wingate to becoming one of the most dominant defensive players in CFL history, Bowman shares what it actually takes to last — not just physically, but mentally.

We talk about the evolution...

Episode 6 of Blitz & Bloom features Vernon Adams Jr. — traded, benched, replaced, doubted, and still standing.

But this isn’t about touchdowns.

It’s about composure.

What it takes to keep showing up when the job isn’t secure.
What confidence looks like when it’s lost — and rebuilt.
What leadership sounds like when it’s honest.

We talk Montreal, BC, and Calgary.
We talk being “the rental.”
We talk six interceptions and staying in the ga...

Episode 5 of Blitz & Bloom features TJ Lee III — 12 seasons with the CFL's BC Lions, two torn Achilles, released and re-signed, and still steady.

But this isn’t about stats.

It’s about identity.

What gets erased when someone is reduced to “football player.”
What leadership looks like when it’s rooted in vulnerability.
What it means to separate performance from peace.

We talk injuries and aging in the CFL.
We talk money...

After the breakthrough.
After the building.
After the firsts.

Episode 4 of Blitz and Bloom is about what happens when momentum collides with reality.

Tanya steps into the CFL as the league’s first full-time female coach — navigating respect, isolation, and the invisible rules of professional football. She walks through learning the league from the inside, finding her edge at the Combine, and choosing growth over comfort.

But pro...

Before the system.
Before the shutdown.
Before everything changed again.

Episode 3 of Blitz and Bloom is about creation.

This is the chapter where football stops being personal and starts becoming purposeful.

Tanya picks up where momentum was building — stepping into leadership, formalizing her work with the CDMFA, and helping launch Alberta’s first girls’ tackle football pathway. What started with 18 girls on a field grew into ...

Before the confidence felt solid.
Before coaching became the calling.
Before building anything bigger than herself.

Episode Two of Blitz and Bloom begins at the end of 2015 — when football stopped being something new and started demanding more.

In this episode, Tanya Henderson moves from local competition with the Edmonton Storm into provincial and national football, wearing the same jersey as former opponents, earning a spot a...

Before the CFL.
Before Team Canada.
Before any of the titles.

Episode 1 of Blitz and Bloom starts on a farm in Forestburg, Alberta — a town of 800 people, limited programs, and no obvious path forward.

In this episode, Tanya Henderson shares the early years that shaped her: growing up rural, learning work ethic before having language for it, falling in love with basketball, and running headfirst into the unspoken rules place...

Episode 0 opens with the question Tanya Henderson has been asked — and asked herself — more than any other: “What business do you have talking about football?”

Tanya shares how football became her career, the lessons learned across every level of the game, and what Blitz and Bloom is really about: growing the CFL, expanding opportunity for women in football, and exploring the deeper conversations around leadership, identity, reinven...