\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"(John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4678356_web1_CP176976935.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
(John Woods \/ The Canadian Press files)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will need rookie receiver Dorian Singer (right) in the air battle on Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bunch of guys saw it in camp and throughout practice when he wasn\u2019t on the roster,\u201d said safety Redha Kramdi.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember him making a couple catches on scout team and I looked over at JY (defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger) and said, \u2018We need to find a way to get that guy on the roster.\u2019 He\u2019s special. He\u2019s humble, but he knows it. He\u2019s playing high level football, he\u2019s super talented, and he\u2019s a good kid, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singer will make his post-season debut Saturday when the Bombers face the Toronto Argonauts<\/a> in the Eastern semifinal at BMO Field. With four catches for 119 yards and a touchdown, his fingerprints were all over Winnipeg\u2019s regular-season finale defeat of the B.C. Lions that clinched a post-season berth.<\/p>\n But in order to become a key piece of an offence at this level, Singer had to ignore a long list of doubters.<\/p>\n Matt Diediker, his coach at Tartan Senior High School in Oakdale, Minn., certainly wasn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n \u201cEven his freshman year, you could tell he was going to be a unique and a once in a while type of player because he was very athletic,\u201d Diediker told the Free Press.<\/p>\n \u201cYou threw anything within a five-foot radius, he found a way to come down with it and do something electric with it.\u201d<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t seem to matter. There wasn\u2019t a single NCAA program from a Power 5 conference that had interest in Singer \u2013 at least not as a receiver.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only Power 5 team interested was Iowa State and it was to play defence. But I didn\u2019t want to play defence. I was a receiver at heart,\u201d said Singer.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest with you, I didn\u2019t want to hit nobody: I just wanted to catch the ball. I had 12 picks in high school, but I didn\u2019t really want to tackle anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n When Singer was a sophomore and junior, Diediker brought him around to several notable Midwest programs, but no one was budging. They ignored the eye test and instead focused in on his measurables.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time he tested, he wouldn\u2019t be in that upper echelon, that elite 40-yard dash time that these guys were looking for,\u201d said Diediker.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of them, honestly, were telling him, \u2018We\u2019d like you to play defence.\u2019 Because while he was an electric receiver, he was also playing cornerback and safety for us and making ridiculous interceptions. But if you know Dorian then or now, he\u2019s a receiver and always wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t (Codie McLachlan \/ The Canadian Press files)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n In just seven games, Singer (left) is averaging a whopping 20.1 yards per catch \u2014 the most by any player with more than 10 catches. In the regular-season finale last Friday alone, the rookie had four catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out high school football in Minnesota for Singer\u2019s senior season. Sitting out for a year wasn\u2019t going to build his case to be a receiver at the next level, so he transferred to Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Ariz., to keep playing. The family of Pinnacle\u2019s quarterback Devon Dampier ended up taking him in.<\/p>\n Singer\u2019s parents signed over legal guardianship.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, it was really hard for me because I was like, \u2018This is my baby. I don\u2019t want my baby to be in another state and I can\u2019t get to him if I need to,\u201d Singer\u2019s mom, LaMonica Haynes, told the Free Press.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he was like, \u2018Mom, it\u2019s gonna help me with my career.\u2019 So, I had to sit and really think about it. But once I thought about it, I thought if it\u2019s gonna better his career, then I\u2019m going to take a leap of faith and just let him go.\u201d<\/p>\n After impressing at Pinnacle, Singer once again bet on himself by walking on at the University of Arizona where he went on to have 66 catches, 1,105 receiving yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore.<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t be denied after that.<\/p>\n From there, he took his talents to the University of Southern California where he caught passes from now Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. He then closed out his college career at Utah before trying out for the NFL\u2019s Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent last season where he was one of the final cuts.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the cool part of his story,\u201d said Diediker.<\/p>\n \u201cEverywhere he\u2019s gone, he\u2019s gone into it as maybe not the top tier, preferred, five-star recruit or prospect, but he earns his way to becoming one of the best players on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s been the case in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n He was a standout in training camp, but the Bombers and head coach Mike O\u2019Shea \u2014 for reasons that still have not been made clear \u2014 signed Singer to the practice squad and left him there for the first 11 games.<\/p>\n If he was frustrated or upset about not playing, he certainly wasn\u2019t showing it. Those around him daily have said he just kept his head down, kept working, and stayed positive.<\/p>\n \u201cMy role model is my mom. I saw her battle through a lot of adversity every day. She raised three kids, still got up every day to go to work no matter how hard life got,\u201d said Singer, 24.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t (Jessica Tobias \/ The Associated Press files)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Singer closed out his college career at Utah after a talented run at the University of Arizona and University of Southern California.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter how hard it gets, as long as you keep pushing, it\u2019s gonna get great later.\u201d<\/p>\n Things have been great for Zach Collaros and Dru Brown at quarterback<\/a> now that they have a legitimate deep threat to throw the ball to. Singer is averaging a whopping 20.1 yards per catch \u2014 the most by any player with more than 10 catches \u2014 by hauling in 29 passes for 584 yards and three scores. If he played the full season, he likely would\u2019ve eclipsed 1,000 yards with ease.<\/p>\n When Brown replaced an injured Collaros last week<\/a>, he immediately went to Singer with a 46-yard bomb that opened the floodgates for the Bombers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s meant a lot knowing that this team can trust me with the ball in my hands,\u201d said Singer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis team believes in me and we believe in each other to go out there to get it done no matter who\u2019s at quarterback. I love them both to death. Every quarterback on the roster has always vouched for me since Day 1. No matter who\u2019s out there, I\u2019m gonna go to war for them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t The Bombers will need Singer in a big way on Saturday. The Argos, led by star quarterback Chad Kelly, love to air it out early and often. It\u2019ll take more than a ground-and-pound attack to not just keep up, but eclipse Toronto\u2019s total on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say Singer is confident he can help with that.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people call them 50-50 balls, but I call it 100-0. When the ball is in the air, it\u2019s either mine or nobody\u2019s,\u201d said Singer.<\/p>\n \u201cI try my best to come down with every ball thrown my way so I can get the quarterback\u2019s trust and when the game is on the line, No. 17 is going to make a play.\u201d<\/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
\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