\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"MIKE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4236800_web1_260519-Bombers-0032.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Wide receiver Christian Fredericksen (left) said training camp with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is \u2018like a dream come true.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 80 per cent of the players there hadn\u2019t played past high school. I was bummed because it didn\u2019t matter how well I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
He could\u2019ve ditched his pro football dream right there. And he would\u2019ve been just fine, too \u2014 he has his masters in Health Care Administration from Idaho State.<\/p>\n
After all, it\u2019s a field Fredericksen is extremely passionate about.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in high school, right before COVID, I got an entry-level job as a caretaker at a nursing home and I fell in love with helping people,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd something I saw there, unfortunately, was a lot of the management there didn\u2019t treat the residents with a lot of respect and it broke my heart to see that stuff. So, I thought the best way I could make a difference in that was to be in a leadership position in healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s excited to dive into that, he\u2019s not quite ready to say goodbye to the gridiron.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can be in the healthcare realm until I\u2019m 80,\u201d he said. \u201cI only have this for so long, so, why not chase it with all you have until it\u2019s over?\u201d<\/p>\n
In his year out of the game, he honed in on his craft before making a trip to Florida in the winter to try to impress the Bombers at their free agent camp. A few days later, he got a call inviting him to rookie camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt my pro day, I ended up running a 4.73, which is super slow. And in that year off, I ended up getting that down to a 4.55,\u201d said the 6-3, 209 pound target.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to prove that I was getting better in that year. I was getting bigger, faster, stronger because otherwise, taking a gap year, you\u2019re not going to be sought after \u2014 you have to chase them a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defenders have had a difficult time chasing the 24-year-old, leading to him getting some looks with the starting unit recently with veterans Nic Demski and Ontaria Wilson sitting out.<\/p>\n
He comes from a football family with his brother, Logan, playing defensive end at Montana State.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s making a lot of plays all over the field. He\u2019s also one of those guys that just keeps on going,\u201d said Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea is impressed with what he\u2019s seeing from wide receiver Christian Fredericksen (72).<\/p>\n \u201cThese guys are tired right now. And there are certain guys out there you just don\u2019t notice it as much. They just have that switch that they can flip. And honestly, I don\u2019t know him well enough to ask him what it is, where did he get that from, how he\u2019s managed to do it? But we do have a bunch of guys that are just going, going, and going.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you know they\u2019re hurting, but they\u2019re relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n Fredericksen had to be relentless to even make it in college. He was invited to walk-on at Idaho State \u2014 mostly because they were heavily recruiting his high school quarterback \u2014 and managed to make the most of the opportunity by finishing as a top-10 pass catcher in program history with 148 receptions for 2,071 yards and 16 touchdowns in five seasons.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t He\u2019s made it as a longshot before, and he\u2019s confident he can do it again \u2014 even though the Bombers are already loaded at receiver with Demski, Wilson, Tim White and Tommy Nield.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a dream come true (to be here),\u201d said Fredericksen.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re training, and you\u2019re the only athlete in the gym with your trainer, it gets exhausting, so, you really have those hard conversations with yourself like, \u2018Is this something I really want to do?\u2019 And every time I had the conversation, the answer was always a loud, \u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Bombers will play their pre-season opener on Saturday in Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at 6 p.m. CT.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n