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<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a story with many layers, an at-times unlikely journey that wound its way from Italy to the United States to Canada.<\/p>\n
Through the death of his father, through perseverance and a work ethic to match, through physical and mental strength, through a thirst for knowledge and desire to excel, Habakkuk Baldonado has already navigated through many chapters and challenges in his still-young life.<\/p>\n
For the soon-to-be (Sept. 6) 27-year-old defensive lineman, in his first season with the Ottawa REDBLACKS after signing as a free agent in February, it\u2019s been a frustrating season on a few levels. Most importantly, his team is off to an 0-10 start, a combination of bad luck and just not playing well enough. And, on an individual basis, it also hasn\u2019t gone as planned. Baldonado missed three games with an ankle injury. In his return to the field, he made two tackles with a sack in a 33-21 setback in Winnipeg a couple of weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Baldonado and, by extension the REDBLACKS, will be looking to find a rhythm and a win Sunday (7 p.m. start) at home vs. the BC Lions.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s get back to Baldonado\u2019s story; it\u2019s one worth telling.<\/p>\n
It was anything but a traditional route to professional football; he first discovered football on a cable TV station, then followed up by watching YouTube highlights of Ray Lewis and Richard Sherman. Baldonado played a bit of football at the age of 13, then stopped before picking it up again three years later.<\/p>\n
When he was 17, he was on his way to Florida, more than 7,000 km from home, as a high-school recruit to Clearwater Academy International.<\/p>\n
But who and what Baldonado is was shaped long before his first big football break. Along the way, there were lessons to be learned.<\/p>\n
Born to Edgar Baldonado and Paola Franceschelli on Sept. 6, 1999, Baldonado has a brother, Jonathan.<\/p>\n
From her teenage years, Paola was an explorer \u2013 she loved adventure. A free spirit, she lived in France and Scotland, and travelled the world. Her influences still run strong within Habakkuk.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom\u2019s an interesting character,\u201d said Baldonado. \u201cShe\u2019s Italian; I learned a lot about toughness from her. She always told my brother and me to go out and explore, to live life our own way.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Habakkuk was 13, his dad was killed in a motorcycle accident. It\u2019s difficult to remember all the details. It\u2019s not hard for him, though, to reflect on how much it hurt to lose a loved one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a great day,\u201d said Baldonado. \u201cWe knew he\u2019d had a crash the night before. But we found out that morning that he had died.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have pictures of him; I sometimes talk to my mom or brother about him. I was young, so I can\u2019t say I remember much. But I remember what matters about him. I remember everything he tried to teach me, the person he was and what he stood for. He taught me to be a man of my word, to stand up for what I believe in. He taught me the right things, and I try to be the man that he told me to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Baldonado started playing football again at 16, he joined a men\u2019s club team in Rome. One of his coaches had an \u201cin\u201d with the head coach at Clearwater.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom was concerned about where I was going,\u201d said Baldonado. \u201cBut she always pushed us to walk along our own path. As soon as I explained the opportunity to her, she was all-in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baldonado laughs when he thinks about his eye-opening trip to the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny enough, the week I had to leave, I got into a fight with my brother, and he broke my phone, he punched it out of my hands,\u201d he said. \u201c I was travelling across the world, and I had no phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know anybody there. But I wouldn\u2019t say it was difficult. I always loved challenges; I love new experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Italy, I was playing against grown men. So when I went to high school (in the U.S.) playing against kids, it seemed easier. The level of speed, intensity and knowledge was different, but the physicality was the same to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Clearwater, Baldonado tore ligaments in his left elbow in a pre-season game. Surgery was considered. His football days could have been over, just like that. He considered going home, but he was told if he wore a brace, he could play. There would be pain, but \u2026 So, Baldonado gutted it out. And he put up attention-grabbing numbers \u2013 83 tackles. 30.5 sacks and nine forced fumbles.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
He agreed to go to the University of Pittsburgh. At Pitt, he played 40 games over five seasons, with 99 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, two pass knockdowns, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and one punt block. He signed with the NFL\u2019s New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2023. After being released, he agreed to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who made him the 12th overall pick in the CFL Global Draft that year.<\/p>\n
Last season in Saskatchewan, he set career highs in defensive tackles (17) and quarterback sacks (four), while also adding one special teams tackle, one forced fumble and one tackle for loss. And, he won a Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
Baldonado speaks English, Spanish and Italian and said he\u2019s looking forward to learning some French.<\/p>\n
Involved in mixed martial arts when he was younger, Baldonado loves adventure \u2013 one of his memories is riding a dirt bike on volcanoes in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Football, obviously, is also a big deal to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was younger, I never really thought about playing professional football,\u201d he said. \u201cI went to the U.S., initially thinking I\u2019d be there for six months. And I kept going from there to college, to the NFL to the CFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go hard on the field, and I go hard in life. I just want to be the best player I can be. Football is a tool for me. It\u2019s not who I am, it\u2019s what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a story with many layers, an at-times unlikely journey that wound its way from Italy to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-872564","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\/872564","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=872564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}