When you think of Winnipeggers playing in the CFL, there’s one local high school that should immediately come to mind: Oak Park.
Andrew Harris, Nic Demski and Brady Oliveira all picked up steam during their time with the Raiders before becoming stars at the pro level.
If it’s up to this year’s draft class, however, St. Paul’s High School might just become the new talk of the town.
Ben Massey / University of Louisiana-Lafayette Athletics
Winnipeg’s Trae Tomlinson of the Lousiana Ragin’ Cajuns says being a bit smaller than a typical college defensive back pushed him to work harder to get where he wanted to go.
Five Manitobans scored invites to this weekend’s CFL Combine in Edmonton, and three of them — offensive lineman Giordano Vaccaro, defensive back Trae Tomlinson and defensive lineman Nathan Carabatsakis — used to walk the halls at St. Paul’s before closing out their high school careers at Clearwater Academy International in Florida to get a taste of competing at a higher level.
“I looked up to those guys, especially Brady, and seeing his journey has been great,” said Tomlinson. “But St. Paul’s, having us three go to the CFL will definitely be a bit of a change. Hopefully we’ll have the same type of impact they’re having on the league. So it’s pretty exciting for Winnipeg and St. Paul’s in itself. I know they’ll be very proud of all three of us.”
Receiver Nathan Udoh (Dakota) and offensive lineman Victor Olaniran (Vincent Massey) — both members of the Manitoba Bisons — are the other hometown products with a chance to impress.
For Tomlinson and Carabatsakis, their connection goes back to when they were around 12 years old when they were leaders on defence for the St. Vital Mustangs.
“It’s awesome to have had that journey with him, and honestly, I’m just happy that Winnipeg and Manitoba as a whole is getting more respect across Canada for the calibre of football players. I think that’s awesome because obviously, Ontario and Quebec kind of dominate the space in terms of guys going down south and playing in the states. But I think it kind of proves that Winnipeg is becoming a hot spot and a powerhouse for producing good football players,” said Carabatsakis.
“I’m obviously grateful for the opportunity to play at St. Paul’s and programs like Recruit Ready where we had hundreds of 6 a.m. practices at the Golf Dome. Without going to those types of things, I don’t think I’d be anywhere near the type of football player or athlete that I am now.”
Vaccaro, who will likely be one of the first names picked at this year’s CFL Draft on April 28, played three seasons at the University of Manitoba before taking his talents to Purdue for 2025. He played a season-high 22 snaps for the Boilermakers against eventual national champion Indiana in the regular-season finale. Tomlinson (2022-24 at Richmond, 2025 at Louisiana) and Carabatsakis (2021-25 at Robert Morris) both spent their entire post-secondary careers at the NCAA level.
Carabatsakis paid his dues before breaking out as a senior where he owned the third-best pressure rate among all defensive tackles in the Northeast Conference.
“My freshman year I thought I was going to come in and just be an animal and then you kind of get a reality check where there’s a lot of guys just as big, just as fast and just as talented so you know you got to work a little bit harder,” said the 23-year-old.
“It was a good experience in the sense that it was a reality check when I first came down here and to have a goal to work towards. You go ‘OK, I want to get on the field, I want to make plays, I want to be a starter, I want to be a leader on the team.’ I guess just the process of learning through all that and putting that time and effort into making those goals come to fruition has been an opportunity that I’m grateful for and I’m sure I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life.”
Tomlinson, also 23, became a starter when he was a sophomore at Richmond and never looked back. But at 5-10, 175 pounds, he always felt like he had a bit more to prove.
He participated in Louisiana’s pro day on Wednesday before flying to Edmonton on Thursday, where he will just partake in the interview process. Vaccaro is also not doing any drills and is just going to meet with teams since he already tested earlier in the month at Purdue’s pro day.
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“I always had to work twice as hard as everybody else with me being a bit small for a typical player at my position,” said Tomlinson.
“So I’d always have to work hard in the early mornings with my dad training, getting extra sessions, running the hill. Honestly, it’s always been, especially when I got to the Division I level, very structured. I always made sure to look for people that are trying to get to the professional ranks so I could watch how they work.”
It’s been a lifelong goal for both to get to this point.
“I’m trusting in myself that as long as I perform the way I should, there’s really nothing to be nervous about,” said Carabatsakis.
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Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
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