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BROOK JONES\/FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman Chris Kolankowski (right) talks to reporters in the Blue Bombers locker room after the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
Soon after, he got a call from head coach Mike O\u2019Shea that confirmed his hunch.<\/p>\n
Kolankowski, who was a pending free agent after starting the past three seasons at centre without missing a game, was subsequently released to get a head start on finding a new team.<\/p>\n
\u201cOsh called me ahead of time, let me know what was going on, let me ask any questions I had, answered them honestly and yeah, it was done very professionally,\u201d said Kolankowski.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of asked for advice moving forward, going to a new team as a vet, and he gave me some good advice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news left Kolankowski without a football home a week before the birth of his second daughter.<\/p>\n
Fortunately for him and his growing family, he found a new employer just over a week later when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats swooped in and signed the 34-year-old Etobicoke, Ont., product.<\/p>\n
The Ticats (2-1) are hosting the Bombers (1-2) on Sunday at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a very stressful time in life, which, obviously, the timing of football, you can\u2019t control everything \u2014 they had to make decisions at that time. So, it was kind of not a great coincidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weekend was pretty stressful. Being an older guy, you\u2019re not sure what people are thinking. Obviously, I thought I still had a lot of tread on the wheels, but you\u2019re not sure what other teams think because I\u2019ve seen some veteran O-lineman who I feel played well in a season and all of a sudden no one picks him up.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it was a little stressful for the weekend there, but I had one team call me within 15 minutes to start talking about things so that helped. And then by Monday, there were a couple more teams talking so it was like OK, it looks like I\u2019ll still be able to play football, now let\u2019s just figure out what\u2019s best for me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
After three seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, including a Grey Cup victory in 2017, Kolankowski was out of the CFL in 2019. Not ready to call it quits, he drove eight hours to Cincinnati for a Bombers free-agent camp that eventually landed him a contract in 2020.<\/p>\n
He spent most of 2021 on the practice roster before taking over the starting job in 2022 after Michael Couture broke his arm in Week 2. He never looked back.<\/p>\n
Kolankowski and his wife, Rianna, even purchased property in Winnipeg and lived in the city full-time for two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe embraced it. It was a good time. Winnipeg was great to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was where I reached a lot of goals that I set for myself, and I still have plenty that I want to accomplish before I hang up the cleats \u2014 but that\u2019s really where I feel like I came to my own as a player and got comfortable in this league and kind of asserted myself as an O-lineman in this league.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll always look fondly on that time. To play that much meaningful football, to accomplish that much as a team, it was very special.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANDIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 Jonathan Moxey (2) defends against Hamilton Tiger-Cats\u2019 Keric Wheatfall (8) as he makes the catch during first half CFL football action in Winnipeg on June 11.<\/p>\n Kolankowski, whom the Ticats are using as their sixth offensive lineman, is thoroughly enjoying playing in his own backyard in Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing we miss in Winnipeg \u2014 we had a great connection with teammates that we treated like family. We got together near Christmas, near all the holidays. During the season, we did a great job as a team getting together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut being closer to family is nice \u2014 it\u2019s not a flight, it\u2019s an eight-minute walk for my kids to see their grandparents so that\u2019s really special.\u201d<\/p>\n Kolankowski returned to Winnipeg in Week 3 and helped the Ticats hand the Bombers a 37-27 defeat. While running out of the visiting team\u2019s tunnel was an adjustment, he was quickly reminded why he enjoyed his time in the Manitoba capital.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a lot of fans yell out from the stands saying \u2018Thank you\u2019 and all that. A lot of fans were tipping their cap, it was special,\u201d said Kolankowski.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a nice moment.\u201d<\/p>\n WHEATFALL WAVES GOODBYE TO WINNIPEG<\/p>\n Kolankowski isn\u2019t the only former Bomber playing his first season in Hamilton.<\/p>\n Receiver Keric Wheatfall signed with the Ticats in free agency after failing to agree to terms on a new contract with his original CFL club.<\/p>\n He cemented himself as a starter last season in Winnipeg with 42 catches for 655 yards and four touchdowns. The third-year CFLer stuck it to the Bombers with three receptions for 102 yards in last month\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m at a stage in my game where I\u2019ve developed a lot and I feel like now my game is tremendously way above how I was in Winnipeg,\u201d Wheatfall told the Free Press on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like over here, the ball spreads around pretty well. Coach Scott (Milanovich) does a real good job of getting guys open and getting guys in different spots and running different routes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a fun offence, I love it over here.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the main reasons he headed east was to reunite with old friend Kenny Lawler.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a bunch of questions when I first got to Winnipeg and he was one of the main dudes that really told me I could do this, I could be that, if I could just keep my head focused and keep on stepping forward and growing in the CFL,\u201d said Wheatfall, a 27-year-old from Brenham, Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and Kenny are real close. We hang out outside of football and all that. Kenny\u2019s a big mentor, he\u2019s a leader, he\u2019s my roommate on away games, so, any questions I have, he answers it right away.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t ADRIAN WYLE \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Ottawa RedBlacks quarterback Dru Brown attempts a pass against the Montreal Alouettes during first half CFL pre-season action in 2024 in Ottawa. <\/p>\n With the Bombers coming off back-to-back losses, Wheatfall expects they\u2019ll do everything in their power to get back in the win column at Hamilton Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably going to be our hardest game yet \u2026 They\u2019re going to come out firing, trying everything and being real physical, and we\u2019re all prepared for that.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019SHEA ON BROWN<\/p>\n Quarterback Dru Brown will not dress Sunday.<\/p>\n The Bombers acquired Brown in a trade with the Ottawa Redblacks last week and intend to eventually make him the No. 2 quarterback behind Zach Collaros.<\/p>\n For this weekend, the backup job still belongs to rookie Canadian Taylor Elgersma.<\/p>\n \u201cJust to give him another week,\u201d said O\u2019Shea shortly after landing in Hamilton.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cHe\u2019s the type of guy that can absorb a playbook or whatever, but is it really fair for him to be thrown out there? And then if he has to jump in and play, and the playbook gets shrunk a little bit because of some new verbage or anything like that \u2014 I just think he needed another week.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bombers did make a few roster changes, however.<\/p>\n Rookie American Micah Mazzccua will make his CFL debut, starting at left guard in place of the injured Gabe Wallace.<\/p>\n Defensive end David Reese will also make his first start after Kydran Jenkins was moved to the practice roster. Canadian defensive tackle Collin Kornelson has been added to the active roster and will make his season debut.<\/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
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