Defensive end Trent Corney grateful to feel wanted by Blue Bombers

Trent Corney's football future is finally settled.

The Virginia defensive end was taken ninth overall by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to open the second round of Tuesday's CFL draft. After months of seemingly endless testing, running drills and one-on-one interviews with scouts and GMs, the Brockville, Ont., native now knows where he'll begin his pro football career.

"I'm super excited to be in Winnipeg," he said during a conference call Wednesday. "It just feels amazing to be wanted and thought of so highly.

"It was a great moment for me."

Corney sometimes marches to the beat of his own drummer so it's no surprise he learned of the Bombers' move rather unconventionally.

"Don't make fun of me," he said. "I was in my basement, I had the TV connected to the wall in my weightroom and I was doing squats with my buddies.

"I was watching the draft expecting to go in the first round … I was thinking possibly the Argos (at No. 4) or Redblacks (at No. 7)."

But Corney, 22, has become a master lately of dealing with dashed hopes. He says nine NFL teams spoke to him prior to last month's draft saying if he wasn't selected they were interested in signing him as a priority free agent.

However, after Corney was bypassed in the draft, no contract offers came. He attended the New York Jets' two-day mini-camp as an unsigned free agent but left without an NFL deal in hand.

"The whole NFL deal was very stressful because a lot of teams showed interest in me but none of them were pulling the trigger," Corney said. "They all kind of just said that and never did anything.

"It really motivates me to have (the Bombers) want me and I'm going to give them everything I've got because they trust me and I trust them."

Corney was frustrated with the Jets' camp as he felt he excelled playing outside linebacker with the NFL club.

"It actually wasn't a challenge at all, I feel I picked it up fast," he said. "If I had played that position in college, I would've been more productive.

"To be honest with you, I thought I had a real dominant weekend. The situation was they weren't really looking to sign a linebacker so I was kind of put in a position where there was no way I was going to make the squad … it was a tough situation."

Social media star

After playing sparingly his first three years at Virginia — registering 15 tackles and two sacks — Corney started 11 of 12 games last season, accumulating 36 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and two sacks.

But he also emerged as a social media star, taking to Youtube and Instagram to highlight his freakish athleticism. Videos show the burly lineman landing front flips in a sand pit, jumping out of a pool on to a deck and dunking a basketball standing on one foot and jumping vertically.

And when he feels he's deserving, Corney has a rather unique way of rewarding himself.

"I like doing epic cheat meals," he said. "I eat so healthy, I eat so clean that I like doing these cheat meals where I eat a whole day's worth of calories in one sitting."

In January after the sociology major's graduation, he celebrated by eating five double-bacon cheeseburgers, complete with fries. With rookie camp looming, Corney is sensing another culinary exploit might be in order.

"Getting drafted … I feel it's worthy of having that cheat meal," he said. "I have this spot in Brockville, they have these huge burritos and I'll probably get two or three of those.

"They're huge and delicious. I'll get everything on them."