It became Nuer Gatkuoth’s signature celebration move during his days at Wake Forest and Colorado State.

He calls it ‘The Shark’ and it features the defensive end punctuating a sack, a tackle for loss or any molar-rattling hit by putting his thumb on the front of his helmet with the rest of his hand at a right angle to represent a fin.

And, hell yeah, Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans will certainly be on board to see that regularly from the club’s first pick, fourth overall, in the 2026 CFL Canadian Draft.

‘Sharknado’ anyone? (We’re open for nickname/headline suggestions, by the way).

“I’m a relentless defensive end. I would describe myself as a shark,” said Gatkuoth Wednesday after his first on-field session as a Blue Bomber following a weekend rookie minicamp appearance with the Denver Broncos.

“If you’ve ever seen me play that’s why I put up the shark (mimics the move) because I feel like I’m a shark — I go out there and I hunt.”

There wasn’t much hunting for Gatkuoth on Wednesday as he was slowly eased into things on his first practice day. He played mostly the observer, took some snaps during the 12-on-12 session after doing some fitness testing, but did not step into the gauntlet that is O-line vs. D-line one-on-ones later in the session — although he was certainly game.

“I put on the pads, and I asked Coach Westerman (Jamaal Westerman, guest coach), ‘Can I play? Can I play?’ and he was like, ‘Nah, you’re done for the day.’ It’s all good,” said Gatkuoth with a grin. “I’ll have my shot: I’ll have my opportunity to play soon.

“I’ll be ready to go sharking, for sure.”

Nuer Gatkuoth

The Blue Bombers loved Gatkuoth’s film from his college days, where he was named to The Athletic’s All-Freshman Team in 2023 at Colorado State and last year at Wake Forest was a finalist for the Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian player in the NCAA.

“He’s a good kid. He’s in shape. He’s ready to go,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea after practice. “He’s up here sooner than we thought. I was hoping (he would stick with Denver). We’ve got some really good football players from north of the 49th that do really well down there and I was hoping he was another one.

“He wants to get playing. I like that.”

Gatkuoth slightly raised some eyebrows over the weekend when he told The Denver Gazette he wanted to come to the CFL and ‘dominate’, although he insisted this today when asked for a clarification:

“I want to really just dominate for my team and do everything I can to help the team win. That’s what I meant. I knew I wanted to come play in the CFL (after the weekend in Denver).

“I grew up a Canadian and love Canadian ball, so once I didn’t get the shot with Denver, I was immediately, ‘let me go play with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.’ I grew up watching the CFL and was a fan as a kid. Coming here is great. I love the blue.”

Asked about the ‘dominate the CFL’ comment post-practice, O’Shea grinned.

“That’s what you’d want everybody to say, isn’t it? They want to come and do play their best and do really well. He’s wired right.

“You wouldn’t want it the other way: ‘Well, I hope I come to the CFL and I’m average.’ You would never sign a guy like that. He’s a competitive guy and his film shows that given his physical stature he packs a lot more punch than you may think. And then you put the film on and you see it.

“We’re excited.”

An Edmonton product who said he went to at least one CFL game a year as a kid, Gatkuoth attended Austin O’Brien High School in Edmonton before moving to West Toronto Prep prior to transferring to Champion Prep Academy in the U.S. He then landed his first NCAA opportunity with Colorado State before transferring to Wake Forest.

Now, after bouncing around from school to school — and his weekend with the Broncos — Gatkuoth is simply just trying to settle into his new football home.

He said he lost track as to how many hands he’s already shaken since arriving Tuesday. It was a whirlwind upon touching down in Winnipeg for a first time — “I came here, went to dinner, went to meetings and went to sleep” — and he’s just been following people around from as he gets acclimatized.

And when that happens, he hopes to soon flash the skills that made him a first-round pick.

“I’m a guy who is relentless; a guy who gets out there every day and comes to work and puts everything on the line,” he said. “A guy who is there for his teammates and really loves to ball, really loves the game of football.

“I know my ability, I know how I can play this game and how I can affect any team so just being able to go out there and help the team win is my goal for the season.”