Veteran middle linebacker McManis quickly making presence felt with Ticats

HAMILTON – Wynton McManis hasn’t wasted any time making his presence felt on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defence.

The veteran middle linebacker joined the Ticats this off-season following four years with the rival Toronto Argonauts. Early in training camp, McManis’s voice can be heard bellowing throughout Ron Joyce Stadium.

“That’s what you need from your Mike (middle) linebacker,” veteran Ticats safety Stavros Katsantonis told reporters. “He’s got to be one of the loudest guys on the field, he’s got to be able to communicate and guys have to respect him at the end of the day.

“I think Wynton has easily earned that respect over what he’s done in his career and he’s a character guy. I think it’s just exciting to see him on the field and the explosion plays he’s able to make, the big hits, the running to the ball. It’s going to make for a great season.”

The six-foot, 220-pound McManis had 62 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble in 15 regular-season games with Toronto last year. The 31-year-old American fills a need for Hamilton after Canadian middle linebacker Devin Veresuk signed this off-season with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.

And after watching McManis do his thing as an Argo, Katsantonis is happy to call him a teammate.

“That’s been a guy you have your eye on every single year when he goes to free agency,” Katsantonis said. “He’s one of the top linebackers in our league, makes a ton of plays, stands out on film whenever he’s out there.

“He’s running to the ball, he’s calling things out. He’s doing what a veteran leader does and it’s exciting to see.”

In McManis, the Ticats have a three-time Grey Cup champion (2018 with Calgary, 2022 and ’24 with Toronto) and two-time CFL all-star. He has also been a productive player with 390 tackles, 52 special-teams tackles, 16 sacks, nine interceptions and four forced fumbles while scoring three defensive touchdowns in 100 career regular-season games.

“Practice is fun, everybody is competing,” McManis said. “We’re talking stuff but everybody has one goal at the end and that’s just to become tighter and become a great team.

“We still have a long way to go to get to the standard that we have set here and that we have for ourselves but it’s a great start.”

McManis said adjusting to a new team and city aren’t really difficult at this point in his pro career. After all, Hamilton is the sixth stop on a football journey that’s spanned the NFL (San Francisco, New Orleans and Miami) as well as Canada (Calgary 2017-19, Toronto 2022-25).

“You kind of just learn that everything takes time and everything is going to come together when it should,” McManis said. “But it takes work at the same time.

“I’m just getting adjusted, getting acquainted, meeting everybody, learning names as best I can but just having fun.”

Putting names to faces, though, hasn’t been easy.

“I’m going (with) numbers right now,” McManis said with a chuckle. “I’ve got to try to say your name three times and stare in your eyes before I know it.

“It’s a work in progress but I’m getting there.”

Hamilton (11-7) finished atop the East Division last season and took two-of-three meetings with Toronto to earn the Ballard Trophy, presented annually to the winner of the season series between the rivals. But the Ticats’ season ended with a 19-16 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in the conference final.

Hamilton hasn’t won the Grey Cup since 1999, the CFL’s longest championship drought. Obviously changing that remains the Ticats’ top priority this season but McManis said many of the organization’s goals align with those he has set for himself.

“Just learning from a lot of different guys here,” he said. “There’s a great veteran presence here so just bonding. It’s opened my eyes up to new things and learning new skills … they’re probably helping me more than I am them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2026.