This is a story about the evolution of Drew Wolitarsky as a receiver for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. And, truth be told, explaining his transformation could be as simple as this formula: skill + hard work = success.
But it could also be said that part of what has made Wolitarsky into such a reliable target for the Bombers this season – his 501 yards on 37 receptions ranks second only to Darvin Adams – is his willingness to learn and study his craft, but also his eagerness to explore a different side of his brain.
He is a writer, with one of his fiction short stories being printed by his hometown paper and another, during his college days, by the student paper at the University of Minnesota. And he is now an aspiring musician, having penned 10-11 songs, some of which he performed just last week – while playing the acoustic guitar – at an open mic night at Le Garage in St. Boniface.
“I was super nervous,” said Wolitarsky after practice on Tuesday. “It was just me singing and playing guitar and a friend of mine playing bass. I’m not going to lie, I was more nervous about that than the game last week.”
Wolitarsky grins here, and if you know the man at all, that’s an expression which seems to dominate his face. There’s a genuine ‘just-happy-to-be-here’ component to his personality that is infectious. He truly seems to be enjoying his second year in the Canadian Football League while approaching each day and every new adventure like a six-year-old running downstairs early on Christmas morning.
To understand Wolitarsky is to understand this: football is his passion, but it represents only a part of who he is. And his evolution as a player is undeniably linked to his ongoing evolution as a person.
“You know, for me writing is almost good meditation,” he explained. “It helps get me out of my own world. I started reading a lot in high school. It was like an escape. Then one day I decided I was going to write a story, so I wrote a 50-pager about these kids in World War II and they go off and fight the Germans in Africa. Reading it back it was pretty stupid, but It was cool at the time. From there I just kept writing and writing and eventually got better. I’m still writing now.
“Hey, I live a pretty simple life, man. I go home, I play some music, I write, I cook something, I watch some film. I don’t need much. I like to create stuff. I think it’s important to have something that’s not related to your job where you totally separate and freshen your mind up so that when you come back in you’re good to go and you miss it.”
Wolitarsky spent the winter changing his body and the way he trains, concentrating on improving his quickness. No question that has helped. But he’s also benefitting from his film work and experience, two factors he mentioned on Tuesday as important in understanding the three-down game and what he might face week in and week out in the CFL.
An intriguing number to consider when glancing at Wolitarsky’s receiving totals: of his 37 receptions, four have been for touchdowns and another 12 have been second-down conversions. Seven of those second-down conversion receptions, FYI, have come in the last three games, representing the growing faith Matt Nichols has in the sophomore receiver.
Those are all statistics that really matter to Wolitarsky. But so does his big-picture take on how this has all unfolded. Remember, this is a guy who was born in Santa Clarita, California, played his college ball at the University of Minnesota, and after trying out for the Vikings, was plucked in a supplemental draft by the Bombers after he took advantage his Canadian roots – his mother is from Montreal, the same city where she and his father met many years ago.
But there’s another layer to this that is best left to Wolitarsky to explain:
“I’ve always known I could be a (Canadian) citizen,” he said. “The guy I was living with in Minneapolis was neighbours with Marc Trestman (the current Toronto Argonauts head coach and Minneapolis native). He actually gave me Trestman’s number and I was like, ‘Hey man, I want to play in the CFL. What do I have to do?’ He said, ‘Well, you need to do this and this…’ before I added, ‘Oh, by the way… I could be a Canadian.’ He said, ‘Oh… For sure, be a Canadian because once you start as an American then for sure you are an international. Make sure you get those papers before you go into the supplemental (draft).’ That’s kinda funny.”
Asked if he has honed up on his Canadian knowledge now that he is representing the true north strong and free, Wolitarsky laughs.
“What, are you going to quiz me? I know the provinces, so that’s good, and I’ve been to most big cities now,” he explained. “Guys give me crap, but I probably know more about Canada than some of them, man.”
That answer is followed by another grin. And then the football philosopher in him comes out again.
“You know, it’s been a cool ride and how things turned out… you never know how things are going to happen in life,” said Wolitarsky. “I’m just kind of going with the ride, man, and let life take me. I’m glad to be here, I’m having fun and doing well.”
BOMBERS REPORT | October 2, 2018
TAKE A BOW:
CB/PR Kevin Fogg was named one of the CFL’s Top Performers for Week 16, following his handiwork in last Saturday’s 30-3 win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
Fogg had three tackles, a Pick-6, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, three punt returns and also took a lateral from Taylor Loffler after another interception and took that an additional 24 yards.
OUCH REPORT:
OL Pat Neufeld, RB Andrew Harris, FB Mike Miller and WR Darvin Adams were all limited or did not practice on Tuesday, but all of them are expected to be available for Friday’s game in Ottawa. As well, SB Nic Demski was back with the No. 1 offence after missing last week’s game in Edmonton.
MORE PRAISE FOR THE ‘D’:
The Bombers defensive work against the Eskimos still dominated the media sessions after practice Tuesday – and with good reason. Winnipeg limited the Esks to just a single field goal, forced seven turnovers, including two interceptions by Mike Reilly, while registering four sacks.
“The key thing was not giving up those explosion plays,” said defensive coordinator Richie Hall. “They gave up four explosion plays, but they were minimized. They forced takeaways and just played hard from start to finish. I though we created a lot of havoc. We got lucky a couple of times but then, at the same time, overall it was just pretty good. They did the job against arguably the best quarterback in the league. And then you look at their receivers and their backs… they’ve got so much offensive firepower for them to come out with a dominating performance I thought that was impressive.”
