EDMONTON, ON - MARCH 21: Players participate in the 2023 CFL Combine at the Commonwealth Field House on Thursday, March 23 at Commonwealth Field House in Edmonton, Alberta.
Part 1 of our look at the four CFL Draft prospects with Manitoba and/or Manitoba Bisons connections.
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It’s not hard to connect the potential dots here with Charlie Ringland and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The University of Saskatchewan product is a Winnipeg kid and a product of both the Charleswood Broncos and Oak Park Raiders – two programs who have fed the Blue Bombers talent over the years.
And, oh yeah, he lists two Blue Bombers legends – Charles Roberts and Milt Stegall – as the Canadian Football League players who inspired him to become a professional player.
“Growing up and going to old Canad Inns Stadium, those were the guys at the time,” said Ringland in a recent chat with bluebombers.com in advance of the CFL Draft on May 2nd. “I got to meet Charles Roberts once when I was a kid. I was a running back when I was little, and he was my favourite player growing up.
“I didn’t watch a ton of NFL because I was more interested in the CFL, and my mom would take me to a bunch of games. Seeing those guys always playing well and all the fans having their jerseys on… that’s part of what attracted me to the game and those two players.”
Ringland is coming off a sensational 2022 with the Huskies, as he was named a U Sports Second Team All-Canadian, registering 24 tackles, three interceptions, five pass break-ups in 10 games as the Huskies went all the way to the Vanier Cup. He was also the Huskies Rookie of the Year in 2018.
A gifted athlete growing up, Ringland was also an exceptional hockey player until one fateful day in the Oak Park gym.
“I played (Charleswood) Broncos growing up and then I stopped because I was playing hockey at the time and just didn’t have time for both,” Ringland explained. “Then in Grade 10 I remember walking into the gym in high school and Mr. Nixon (Stu Nixon, then the varsity head coach) came up to me and said, ‘Someday someone is going to pay you to play football.’ I thought at the time I was just doing it for fun.
“That’s the first time I really heard something like that, and it made me think if this was something I could pursue.”
Ringland also credits former CFLer Paul Woldu – who won Grey Cups with Montreal and Saskatchewan as a player and is now the Huskies defensive back coach – for helping him keep his eyes on the prize while at the U of S.
“He’s from Regina and he was driving up every day for practice, two hours every day and then going home after,” Ringland said. “When I first got there, I was just 18 and he told me I had what it takes and to just stay the course and do the work. He instilled that in me.”
Ringland describes himself as a physical defensive back with a high compete level.
He’d be ecstatic to be drafted by any CFL team on May 2nd. And if it is the Blue Bombers who call his name? Well…
“That would be a dream come true.”
The Ringland File
Name: Charlie Ringland
Position: defensive back
School: University of Saskatchewan
Height: 6-1; Weight: 195
FYI: Second Team U Sports All-Canadian, 2022… Canada West All-Star, 2022… Huskies Rookie of the Year, 2018… Ran a 4.59 40 at the CFL Combine and posted a 40-inch vertical – second highest at the event (Bishop’s Jake Kelly, another DB, jumped 40.5).
