BOMBERS’ SECRET WEAPON CATCHING SOME ATTENTION
Wolitarsky’s touchdown reception Sunday helped Winnipeg knock off the Roughriders
The ball and the magnitude of the moment it could create came at him on such an inviting arc that Winnipeg receiver Drew Wolitarsky couldn’t hear or see anything else.
He locked in on the football and rose to the occasion; despite the noise of 30,000 fans fervently wishing aloud that he would just fall down, drop the ball or both; despite the slippery, snow-dusted Mosaic Stadium turf and incoming Saskatchewan defender Mike Edem.
“It felt like everything went quiet for a second. There was the snowfall and I couldn’t really hear anything,” said Wolitarsky. “I saw the ball and it was a really great feeling. Serenity, man. It was serenity.”
On a football field. In decidedly enemy territory. Imagine that.
Wolitarsky, a 23-year-old from Santa Clarita, Calif., said he experienced that feeling before in high school and during college games in Minnesota and he knows exactly what is required of him in those moments.
“I honed in on it. I knew the importance. I knew I needed to run under it. I was just so lasered in, so focused on it.”
The throw from Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols was a perfect 23-yard rainbow that touched down in Wolitarsky’s hands inside the Saskatchewan end zone. It turned the West semifinal in favour of Winnipeg and they wouldn’t relinquish the 13-6 lead it gave them. They beat the Riders 23-18 and will play Calgary in the Western Final Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
The play, scrimmaged from the Saskatchewan 20, was a perfectly executed bit of deception. Edem bit on Nichols’ pump fake and Wolitarsky suddenly had the separation he needed.
“We knew they were playing man and they were bringing some pressure. They were kind of looking for any quick routes we’re trying to get off because we’ve shown those in the past,” said Wolitarsky. “We knew what to expect and we baited that purposefully and it worked out great.”
So, too, has the decision to give up a 2018 third-round draft pick so the Bombers could take Wolitarsky in the 2017 supplemental draft. He put up some decent numbers at the University of Minnesota and still holds California high school records for all-time catches at 281 and yards with 5,147, erasing previous marks set by Steve Smith, who had an injury shortened NFL career. Wolitarsky wasn’t drafted by an NFL team and only got a perfunctory look at the Minnesota Vikings’ camp.
So the six-foot-three, 220-pounder cast his eyes north and wrangled an exemption into the supplemental draft because his mother Audrey was born in Montreal. Wolitarsky played in just five games last season and caught one pass. He vowed to make himself a more valuable receiver in 2018.
“I think it’s a growing season, man,” he said. “It started slow. I think I had to earn the trust from my coaches and my teammates. I took it as I had to show what I can do. I wanted to show that by the end of this year and into next year I could be a main target. I wanted to build up that trust so I would say this was a building block for me. It’s not over yet and I’m going to continue to grow. I think I can play here for a long time.”
He led the Bombers in catches with five and yards with 68 on Sunday. And if the Riders spent more time game-planning to stop Darvin Adams and Weston Dressler, it was understandable and a mistake. Wolitarsky caught 45 passes for 650 yards through the 18-game regular season, nestled in between Adams at 1,028 and Dressler at 535 in terms of yardage.
But he also caught five touchdown passes and only nine receivers in the league hauled in more. That speaks to stepping it up.
“He’s just a savvy football player that has a feel for the game,” said Nichols. “He’s a bigtime playmaker. A very underrated player for our team. I don’t know what anyone thinks of him around the league. I can only assume that he’s a surprise for teams. It’s not that way for us.”
Wolitarsky thinks he flew into the CFL under the radar of most teams because of his combine stats, for which there is an explanation.
“I didn’t run a great 40(-yard dash) time (at 4.67 seconds) in the combine. I’m a much faster game player I think. I didn’t have the money to get the training for the combine. I just had to run by myself and do my best at that.
“I think I play fast. I play my speed. I just go out there and do my thing and it seems to work. … Whoever is on me, I’m not too worried about it. I feel I have the talent and the routes to get open at any cost.”
He’s just a savvy football player that has a feel for the game. He’s a big-time playmaker. A very underrated player for our team.