What began as a dream years ago is very close to becoming a reality for Giordano Vaccaro.<\/p>\n
Pro football wasn\u2019t something Vaccaro pondered until he enrolled at the University of Manitoba in 2022 and started as a freshman. Now the six-foot-two, 307-pound Purdue offensive lineman is projected to go first overall in Tuesday night\u2019s CFL draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my first year in college when coach Dobie (Bisons head coach Brian Dobie) was like, \u2018Hey, you could make a career out of this,’\u201d Vaccaro said. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019d never really thought about because I started playing football late (at Winnipeg\u2019s St. Paul\u2019s High School).<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I figured I could do this, that\u2019s when that switch kind of turned on. Obviously, as it gets closer, it\u2019s pretty surreal that I could be calling football my job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaccaro was ranked No. 11 last week on the CFL Scouting Bureau\u2019s final list of the top-20 prospects for Tuesday\u2019s draft. But of the top 11 players, only Vaccaro and Rutgers defensive back Jett Elad (No. 9) are immediately available to join a Canadian team, as the others were either drafted by NFL teams, signed as undrafted free agents or invited to rookie mini-camps.<\/p>\n
Vaccaro, twice an all-Canadian in three seasons at Manitoba and U Sports\u2019 top down lineman in 2024 before transferring to Purdue, has the ability to challenge for a CFL starting spot. The Ottawa Redblacks (4-14), who finished last in the East Division and missed the CFL playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, currently own the No. 1 pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t care (if selected first overall), and it\u2019s honestly true when I say that,\u201d said Vaccaro, a\u00a0Winnipeg\u00a0native. \u201cI\u2019d love to go to Ottawa or anywhere, I just want the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe draft is just another stepping-stone to ultimately making this a career \u2026 it\u2019s an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaccaro appeared in all 12 of Purdue\u2019s games last season, seeing action on offence and special teams. He played 22 snaps in the Boilermakers\u2019 season finale, a 56-3 loss to eventual NCAA champion Indiana on Nov. 28.<\/p>\n
This off-season has certainly been a unique one for Vaccaro. Instead of training to get bigger and stronger for the \u201926 season, Vacarro\u2019s focus was on speed and explosion to perform well in drills for scouts while also showing his football IQ in one-on-one meetings.<\/p>\n
But Vaccaro said an even-keeled approach helped him enjoy the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start, I\u2019d say it was pretty stressful because you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going to end up or how you\u2019re going to get there,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I felt like I enjoyed the process a lot because I really didn\u2019t focus too much on if I did well or not, I just took it day by day.<\/p>\n
\u201cPurdue has done a great job the past month transitioning from combine work to getting you ready to go to a professional camp. So my mindset has switched to where I believe I\u2019m ready for a professional camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
And once with a CFL team, Vaccaro doesn\u2019t see having to change his approach to football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve felt like from the start of college through to the end of this year, it\u2019s been doing the same things,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing back and relying on what I\u2019ve already done, putting in extra effort in the film room, treating my body well as far as nutrition and ultimately getting ready for game day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no real secrets in football. If you put in the work, good things will come. If you put in extra work, then greater things will come from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vacarro will watch Tuesday\u2019s draft at a banquet hall in\u00a0Winnipeg\u00a0with about 200 family and friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s pretty much just family and a couple of friends,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cIt was extremely important to me to be in\u00a0Winnipeg\u00a0for the draft, just to share the moment with the people who\u2019ve put so much effort into this \u2026 and supported me the whole way.\u201d<\/p>\n
And if he heads to a CFL camp as the first overall selection, Vaccaro feels more than ready to shoulder that weight of expectation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just going back and trusting my training,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got here by just relying on myself and the support I get from those around me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, I\u2019ll feel some pressure, but pressure is a privilege. You set expectations for yourself going into the draft and ultimately coming out of it as well regarding where you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2029.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What began as a dream years ago is very close to becoming a reality for Giordano Vaccaro. Pro…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-633400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633400","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=633400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}