{"id":668063,"date":"2026-05-14T03:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T03:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668063\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T03:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T03:14:09","slug":"bombers-recount-humbling-welcome-to-the-cfl-moment-local-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668063\/","title":{"rendered":"Bombers recount humbling, welcome-to-the-CFL moment | Local Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

As talented and hungry as he is, Nuer Gatkuoth will no doubt have his welcome-to-the-CFL moment with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just the way it goes for college players making the significant jump to professional football, no matter how good they think they are.<\/p>\n

Two of Gatkuoth\u2019s new teammates on the defensive line, also Canadians, shared their welcome-to-the-pros moment as the Bombers No. 1 draft pick joined the team at training camp on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Cam Lawson was a second-round draft pick of the Montreal Alouettes out of Queen\u2019s University in 2021 and made their lineup as a rookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being super nervous,\u201d Lawson said of his first training camp. \u201cI was drafted that COVID year, so we didn\u2019t have a season that year. So I had a whole year to think about it, sit on it. You\u2019re super nervous, but also excited at the same time. You just want to show what you\u2019ve got right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Lawson was quickly shown what it takes to play in the CFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got pancaked hard,\u201d the 6-foot-3, 290-pounder said. \u201cThe real welcome moment is definitely your first game experience. It was a screen pass, and the O-lineman stepped to the side and just whacked me in the back and I just face-planted into the ground. I was like, \u2018That\u2019s embarrassing.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you know you have to watch it (on film) the next day, too, oh god.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collin Kornelson, a Winnipeg draft pick from the University of Manitoba, got three rookie camps under his belt before cracking the Bombers roster in his third try.<\/p>\n

That still didn\u2019t prepare the Winnipegger for what was to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn university or college, some O-lines will have one really good guy, or two,\u201d Kornelson said. \u201cHere, everybody\u2019s good. There\u2019s no big drop-off between the Group 1s and the Group 2s.\u201d<\/p>\n

On and off the roster last season, the 285-pounder was released mid-summer, then re-signed just before the Banjo Bowl against rival Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t know I was going to play,\u201d Kornelson recalled. \u201cOnly practised once that week. I think it was the third play of the game, and the O-lineman got on me fast. It was like, \u2018Oh, alright, you\u2019re back.\u2019 I got pushed pretty far out of my gap. It was something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even future Hall of Famers can have their welcome moment.<\/p>\n

Head coach Mike O\u2019Shea says he actually had a few.<\/p>\n

The one that stands out for the University of Guelph product happened in training camp with Hamilton in 1993, O\u2019Shea a raw rookie about to be schooled by fourth-year CFLer Bobby Dawson.<\/p>\n

The kid from North Bay, Ont., was the wedge-buster on kickoff coverage, a job that takes no small amount of courage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m not really doing very well,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cHe says, \u2018Stand over there and watch.\u2019 He goes on kickoff and he runs by the first guy, destroys the second guy, smashes through the wedge, makes the tackle. I\u2019m coming on the field… he goes, \u2018You get it?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019ll never forget Bobby Dawson for that. There was a bunch more where I got killed, but that\u2019s the one I remember the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t give up, those humbling, eye-opening moments can be matched by a moment when they know they belong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you make your first play,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cYou complete your assignment and maybe you go above and beyond, athletically. Okay, if I can recreate this multiple times, I know I can do it. You get that first burst of self-confidence, knowing you can play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawson won\u2019t hesitate to share his experiences with Gatkuoth as the 24-year-old navigates his first training camp and, potentially, his first games.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hundred percent,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I wanted (in Montreal). I want to be that guy for new guys coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n

paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

X: @friesensunmedia<\/p>\n

\"mike<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even Hall of Fame players like Mike O\u2019Shea, now head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, experienced welcome-to-the-pros moments as rookies.<\/p>\n

Even Hall of Fame players like Mike O’Shea, now head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, experienced welcome-to-the-pros moments as rookies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As talented and hungry as he is, Nuer Gatkuoth will no doubt have his welcome-to-the-CFL moment with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,246417,48,521,522,520,176689,180060,82,7504],"class_list":["post-668063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-cam-lawson","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-collin-kornelson","tag-nuer-gatkuoth","tag-sports","tag-winnipeg-blue-bombers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668063","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=668063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}