Blue Bombers Training Camp | Day 9

Day after day after day during Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp one scene has repeated over and over again: receiver Christian Fredericksen making at least one ‘Oh, wow’ reception.

“He’s done extremely well,” began Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea after a holiday Monday practice. “He’s shown the ability to learn the playbook, No. 1, he catches the ball, he catches tough footballs. He shows good burst. There’s all these things he’s doing very, very well.

“Every time you turn on the film you notice him.”

That’s exactly the kind of consistency every player in camp craves and every coaching staff and scouting personnel covets. And for Fredericksen, a big target at 6-3, 209 pounds, it’s exactly the same thing he did through a solid collegiate career at Idaho State.

There’s also this: a year or so ago Fredericksen wondered if he’d ever get another shot like this again.

That’s why when he saw the Blue Bombers were holding a free agent camp in Florida over the winter Fredericksen decided to fly south, plunk down his $100 entry free do everything possible to open some eyes.

“You just come with your $100 bill and your cleats and try to show people for a couple hours what you’ve got,” Fredericksen said. “It’s stressful but I was confident with it, too. You have to bet on yourself.

“It’s been a dream. It’s all happened so fast and I’m just so grateful to be out here playing football again. It’s hard to complain about anything — I’ve heard some comments on the weather, but this is football weather. It’s a blast to be out here.”

Fredericksen graduated from Idaho State in 2024 with a degree in Health Care Administration and Business then spent the last year training three to six hours a day, for simply another football opportunity.

“I got into health care administration because I worked at old folk’s home and I felt like the management there treated the residents poorly,” he said. “I thought the best way I could make a difference in the health care realm would be from a leadership position. That’s the direction to go.

“It can be a tough job, but it can also be extremely rewarding and that’s what I’m excited about. But that’s waiting for me. I’m in no rush to get out of football right now. I still have the love for it. You get done with college and you want to give the next level a shot and when it doesn’t work out right away you have two options: accept that and start working and providing for your future family or keep chasing this thing.

“I took a couple of weeks off to think about it and at the end of those two weeks I just missed football so much I trained the entire year by myself to make this happen.”

Fredericksen’s path to a roster spot with the Blue Bombers won’t be easy with established vets like Nic Demski, Pokey Wilson, Tim White and Tommy Nield. But with Demski and Wilson nursing injuries the last two days, the 24-year-old product of Rigby, Idaho — his brother Logan is at Montana State, FYI — has stepped up while working with a mix of offensive starters.

And, again, he just keeps making catches. And every day he seems to leave the field with a giant grin on his face.

“I want to be a deep threat. It’s something I’ve always taken a lot of pride in,” he explained. “I try to turn those 50-50 balls, those jump balls, into 70-30/80-20 balls. I want to be that guy that in those situations where the quarterback doesn’t know where to go with the ball, he comes to me because he knows I’ll bring it down. Consistency is something I’ve tried to base my game around.

“It’s crazy,” he added. “The first day we were out here in helmets in snowed. In May. I couldn’t believe it. But everybody was complaining about it and I’m looking around with a smile on my face and I was thinking, ‘I can’t believe this. I’m in a helmet again.’

“All I wanted was a foot in the door and now that I’m here, I’m still just so excited.”