It’s simply an impossible task to capture the heart, the spirit and the whole aura of Drew Wolitarsky in just a few hundred words.

It’s a whole experience — he’d probably call it a vibe — and its’ baseline is built on his California-chill approach to life which, when it was often required on the football field, was backed by his do-anything-for-the-team mantra.

It was infectious to his teammates, and anyone who came into his orbit and was instantly pulled closer to him via his own personal tractor beam.

That ability to connect with people was and is his super-power and it made Wolitarsky — who signed a one-day contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers today so he could officially retire as a member of the club — one of the most likeable players in recent memory.

Zach Collaros (left) and Wolitarsky

A quick story on that Wolitarsky super-power, if you’ll allow…

It’s November of 2023 and the Blue Bombers are hopping on busses for the quick ride to the airport before it was wheel’s up for Grey Cup in Regina. There is an excitement and a buzz, naturally, and Wolitarsky — who daily represented that excitement and buzz as if he was hooked up to a permanent cappuccino drip — was working his way down the aisle of the bus chatting with teammates and staff.

Coming across a section of the bus that featured yours truly on one side and across from Tomoya Machino, the Japanese Global offensive lineman who was with the club for a couple of seasons, Wolitarsky stopped for a moment.

“Eddie… you should really do a story on Tomoya. It would be fascinating. Tomoya, how’s your English?”

Machino, smiled and then swayed his hand back-and-forth in the universal gesture for ‘so-so.’

Wolitarsky then said, “It’s OK. I can be your translator. Domo arigato. Konnichiwa.” Then, turning back to me he said, “That’s all I got. Eddie, you’re on your own here.”

And off he went down the aisle to fist bump and/or bro hug everyone else on the bus.

Everyone he was around likely has a story like that about Wolitarsky, who spent seven of his eight seasons with the Blue Bombers (2017-24), and won two Grey Cup championships here before spending last year with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He connected with everyone, whether it was the starting quarterback, the head coach or the Global Japanese O-lineman who barely spoke a word of English.

He visited with Winnipeg media via a Zoom call from the Portuguese island of Madeira Thursday morning, indicating the lukewarm response he got during free agency led to his decision to retire from the game.

“Honestly, I just didn’t feel like I had a deal on the table that I was happy with. I feel like it was just at that point where you’re not feeling very wanted and, at the same time. you’re just chasing something out of your pride rather than being real about it,” Wolitarsky said. “So, I talked about it with my family, many colleagues, many friends, and I just decided that, No. 1, I was going to retire but I really wanted to retire as a Bomber.

“That’s just where I feel my heart was and that’s where I put all my heart and soul into community-wise. I had so many friends out there, the music scene… it just made sense. I wanted to go out as a Bomber.”

Wolitarsky appeared in 96 regular-season games with the Blue Bombers during his days here pulling in 227 receptions for 2,954 yards and 18 touchdowns after being selected by the Blue Bombers in the 2017 CFL Supplemental Draft after it was discovered he qualified as a national player because his mother was born in Montreal.

Truthfully, though, his numbers were just a small part of what he did here as part of the whole Wolitarsky experience. He learned to play guitar in Winnipeg, wrote his first songs and appeared publicly on stage for his first performances in this town.

In short, the product of Santa Clarita, CA, who played his college ball at the University of Minnesota, fell in love with a place he had no clue about before his arrival.

“I love Winnipeg, man. I really do. I’d be so happy to just even come back and visit. I’m going to come back and visit to get all my stuff. I still have stuff there. I’m probably going to throw a little party again. Maybe do a little concert again and have everyone out again to just say thank you.

“I do get it, man. It’s such a small, big city. You know everybody, you love your neighbours, everyone’s friendly, everyone’s looking after each other. You kind of have the chip on the shoulder where everyone thinks where you live sucks, and you kind of love that because it keeps everyone out and you guys are all happy where you live. And you got your restaurants; you have your little routines. You’re not driving so far. You’re not really getting stuck in traffic, although Portage and Pembina can be pretty rough with construction every year, every day.

“But I don’t know, man. I have my spots. I know the waiters at my restaurant, I know the clerk at the grocery store. It’s just that cool feeling of I really have a community here and I really feel at home. It just feels good.”

Wolitarsky said it’s unclear what the next chapter in his life will look like — what he’ll do, where he and his family will live — but this much is clear: he won’t be taking a desk job.

“Right now, I’m reaching out to a lot of ex-teammates,” he said. “The beautiful thing about football is you have so many connections so many people doing so many different jobs. I called (Justin) Medlock up, I called (Weston) Dressler up, I’m about to call Matt Nichols, Strevy (Chris Streveler). It’s funny, man, me and Strevy, our lives keep having this weird thing about inter-twining. We’re both about to retire this year, we both just had a kid… we were just talking together about figuring this out and we have a lot of guys reaching out. We know this is the worst part of being an athlete. You’re just so used to competing and if you’re better then you get to play.

“… I’m very open to opportunities. I love the team aspect of things so whatever I do get into next… I’ll tell you what I won’t be doing: I won’t be sitting at a desk from 9-to-5, buddy. I cannot do that. I will not do that. So, anyone who is listening to this and wants to employ me, I’m sorry if that’s what my role would be. I can’t do it.

“But I love coaching. I love to teach. I love inspiring. I love music. I love all these things but at the root core of it I love people and I love relationships. So, in any type of work that I’m going to do that’s going to be at the core of it, I feel like.”

Wolitarsky took the time near the end of his session to thank the media for their coverage of the team and telling the player’s stories. Near the end it was suggested his best skill was his ability to have a connection with everyone in the locker room.

Asked how he wanted to be remembered as a Blue Bomber, he finished with this:

“I’m happy with that, brother. I’m happy with that. I just want everybody to remember that we did it together and we did it for each other. And if that’s how I’m remembered, I’m very happy with that.”