Kyries Hebert: Former Bengal back in CFL but resides in Northern Kentucky

Former Bengals special teams captain Kyries Hebert was last heard from locally when the Bengals released him Sept. 4.

He used it as an opportunity to get reacquainted with “O Canada.”

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He returned to the Canadian Football League, where he had played from 2004-2007 (Ottawa and Winnipeg) and built his reputation as a fearsome tackler and fearless special teamer, which earned him his Bengals stripes in 2008 and 2009. He led the Bengals’ special teams in tackles in 2008 and was second in 2009.

And he did something this season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that the Bengals won’t do: He went to the playoffs, even though his team was knocked out in the first round, 16-13, by underdog Toronto.

“We had five turnovers, the last of them on a pass that went through the receiver’s hands and was intercepted just as we were driving for the (tying) field goal,” Hebert said. “Tough loss.”

The CFL’s Super Bowl – the “Grey Cup” – is Sunday.

Hebert’s name is pronounced “Eh-BARE,” as you might expect, given the man’s roots in the heart of Cajun country, 150 miles west of New Orleans, in the south-central Louisiana city of Lafayette.

He played the last two games of the regular season and the playoff game with the Tiger-Cats. He was a special teamer and strong safety, which in the CFL is “more like a (line)backer,” he said.

He’s hopeful of returning to the NFL next season, and if not, he’ll have no problem returning to Canada. He enjoys the lifestyle north of the border, and has made many friends there.

“The money’s better in the NFL, of course, but there’s a lot to be said for Canadian football,” he said. “There’s not as many egos and a little more love of the game.”

He wasn’t able to watch the Bengals much on TV this season. The one time he did, it pretty much did him in. It was the Bengals season opener in New England. Hebert had just been cut eight days earlier. He watched the Patrots’ Brandon Tate return the second-half kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

“I could see where I would have been (on the cover team),” Hebert said. “I couldn’t watch it anymore after that.”

When a reporter asked him recently where he spends the off-season, Hebert laughed and said, “What off-season?”

Acutally his home now is in Northern Kentucky.

It must be tough doing without all that terrific Cajun and Creole cuisine he grew up on, isn’t it?

“We’ve got some good places up here,” Hebert said. “Knotty Pine on the Bayou (in Cold Spring, Ky.) and Pappadeaux’s (in Springdale). Everything in moderation, I say. (Cajun-Creole cuisine) is not something you should eat everyday if you’re trying to stay in shape like I am.”

Hebert will again host his football and cheer/dance camp in Northern Kentucky in mid-spring, and will also hold one in Louisiana. He also remains active with his foundation, Ky Cares, which can be followed at kyhebert.com, and on his Facebook page. A big upcoming fundraiser for Ky Cares is a European cruise in mid-February.

He played his college ball at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, who cut him after training camp, then he hooked up with the Houston Texans who released him at the beginning of the following season, and soon thereafter he found a playing home in Canada.

He earned rave reviews when he led the Bengals special teams with 23 tackles in his first year here. That year and the following one, he topped the Bengals fans’ ballot as the nominated special teams’ representative for the Pro Bowl.

He said the Canadian game is more wide-open than the NFL because there are only three downs up there instead of four, and the field is wider (65 yards compared to 53 1/3 here) and the rules require giving the return man a five-yard cushion, instead of mere halo room. And there are many more returns of missed field goals than in the States. That’s because in the CFL, the end zone is 20 yards deep and the goal posts are on the goal line, not at the back of the 10-yard end zone as in the NFL.

Canadian quarterbacks tend to be stronger-armed than their NFL brethren (“You’ve got to be able to throw the 50-yard ‘out’ route,” Hebert said) and the running backs tend to be faster and stronger in the CFL, he said.

But, overall, the speed is faster in the NFL, he said.

By John Erardi