![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1st-Half-Zach-Collaros-8-Drew-Wolitarsky-82-tablet-1600x1067.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s simply an impossible task to capture the heart, the spirit and the whole aura of Drew Wolitarsky in just a few hundred words.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a whole experience \u2014 he\u2019d probably call it a vibe \u2014 and its\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That ability to connect with people was and is his super-power and it made Wolitarsky \u2014 who signed a one-day contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers today so he could officially retire as a member of the club \u2014 one of the most likeable players in recent memory.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zach Collaros (left) and Wolitarsky<\/p>\n
A quick story on that Wolitarsky super-power, if you\u2019ll allow\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s November of 2023 and the Blue Bombers are hopping on busses for the quick ride to the airport before it was wheel\u2019s up for Grey Cup in Regina. There is an excitement and a buzz, naturally, and Wolitarsky \u2014 who daily represented that excitement and buzz as if he was hooked up to a permanent cappuccino drip \u2014 was working his way down the aisle of the bus chatting with teammates and staff.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEddie\u2026 you should really do a story on Tomoya. It would be fascinating. Tomoya, how\u2019s your English?\u201d<\/p>\n
Machino, smiled and then swayed his hand back-and-forth in the universal gesture for \u2018so-so.\u2019<\/p>\n
Wolitarsky then said, \u201cIt\u2019s OK. I can be your translator. Domo arigato. Konnichiwa.\u201d Then, turning back to me he said, \u201cThat\u2019s all I got. Eddie, you\u2019re on your own here.\u201d<\/p>\n
And off he went down the aisle to fist bump and\/or bro hug everyone else on the bus.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I just didn\u2019t 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\u2019re not feeling very wanted and, at the same time. you\u2019re just chasing something out of your pride rather than being real about it,\u201d Wolitarsky said. \u201cSo, 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just where I feel my heart was and that\u2019s where I put all my heart and soul into community-wise. I had so many friends out there, the music scene\u2026 it just made sense. I wanted to go out as a Bomber.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolitarsky appeared in 96 regular-season games with the Blue Bombers during his days here\u00a0pulling 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Winnipeg, man. I really do. I\u2019d be so happy to just even come back and visit. I\u2019m going to come back and visit to get all my stuff. I still have stuff there. I\u2019m probably going to throw a little party again. Maybe do a little concert again and have everyone out again to just say thank you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do get it, man. It\u2019s such a small, big city. You know everybody, you love your neighbours, everyone\u2019s friendly, everyone\u2019s 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\u2019re not driving so far. You\u2019re not really getting stuck in traffic, although Portage and Pembina can be pretty rough with construction every year, every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t know, man. I have my spots. I know the waiters at my restaurant, I know the clerk at the grocery store. It\u2019s just that cool feeling of I really have a community here and I really feel at home. It just feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolitarsky said it\u2019s unclear what the next chapter in his life will look like \u2014 what he\u2019ll do, where he and his family will live \u2014 but this much is clear: he won\u2019t be taking a desk job.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I\u2019m reaching out to a lot of ex-teammates,\u201d he said. \u201cThe 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\u2019m about to call Matt Nichols, Strevy (Chris Streveler). It\u2019s funny, man, me and Strevy, our lives keep having this weird thing about inter-twining. We\u2019re both about to retire this year, we both just had a kid\u2026 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\u2019re just so used to competing and if you\u2019re better then you get to play.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 I\u2019m very open to opportunities. I love the team aspect of things so whatever I do get into next\u2026 I\u2019ll tell you what I won\u2019t be doing: I won\u2019t 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\u2019m sorry if that\u2019s what my role would be. I can\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut 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\u2019m going to do that\u2019s going to be at the core of it, I feel like.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Drew-Wolitarsky-82-11668-1600x1067.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Wolitarsky took the time near the end of his session to thank the media for their coverage of the team and telling the player\u2019s stories. Near the end it was suggested his best skill was his ability to have a connection with everyone in the locker room.<\/p>\n
Asked how he wanted to be remembered as a Blue Bomber, he finished with this:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy with that, brother. I\u2019m happy with that. I just want everybody to remember that we did it together and we did it for each other. And if that\u2019s how I\u2019m remembered, I\u2019m very happy with that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s simply an impossible task to capture the heart, the spirit and the whole aura of Drew Wolitarsky…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-486931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}