‘I wanted to go out as a Bomber’

Drew Wolitarsky didn’t get a fairytale ending to his playing career.

Released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after seven seasons with the team, the receiver from Santa Clarita, Calif., spent 2025 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats where injuries limited him to two games.

“Ohhh… man, that was the hardest year, probably, of my career. No, not even ‘probably.’ It was the hardest year of my career,” Wolitarsky said in a Zoom call on Thursday while vacationing on Madeira Island in Portugal.

While every athlete dreams of being showered with championship confetti and champagne on their way out, Wolitarsky got perhaps the next best thing: the Bombers signed the 30-year-old to a one-day contract Thursday so he could properly retire as a member of the organization that means the most to him.

After waiting out free agency, he ultimately decided it was time to move on.

“Honestly, I just didn’t feel like I had a deal on the table that I was happy with. I feel like it was just at that point where you’re not feeling very wanted and, at the same time, you’re just chasing something out of your pride rather than being real about it,” he said.

“So I talked about it with my family, many colleagues, many friends, and I just decided that, No. 1, I was going to retire but I really wanted to retire as a Bomber. That’s just where I feel my heart was and that’s where I put all my heart and soul into community-wise. I had so many friends out there… it just made sense. I wanted to go out as a Bomber.”

“I really wanted to retire as a Bomber. That’s just where I feel my heart was.”

His final campaign was hard for reasons much bigger than football.

Wolitarsky signed with Hamilton because of Ted Goveia — who was newly hired by the Ticats after a decade as an assistant general manager in Winnipeg.

“(He) was like, ‘Dude, I want you here in Hamilton. You’re going to be my first signing as the GM.’ I was excited about that,” said Wolitarsky.

At the end of training camp, Goveia called Wolitarsky into his office and informed him that he was losing his battle with cancer. It was announced on Sept. 12, 2025 that Goveia had died — hours before the Ticats hosted the Bombers on ‘Team Ted’ night, which was scheduled as a way to honour his decades of service to Canadian football.

“That’s just kind of how the year was, man. It was just bad news after bad news after bad news,” said Wolitarsky.

“… We ended up winning the game for Ted. It was a beautiful night. But it was just a sad year. I went through a lot mentally and physically.”

Even with everything he encountered in Hamilton, Wolitarsky is extremely grateful for everything the CFL, and Canada in general, gave him over the years.

“At first, I was just happy to get up there, have a job and play football. Now my wife and I are like ‘Do we even want to go back to the U.S.?’ And we’re like ‘I don’t think we do,’” said Wolitarsky, who has two young kids with his wife Savannah.

“That’s just kind of how the year was, man. It was just bad news after bad news after bad news.”

“I don’t know, we’ll see. So much has changed with both countries since 2017 and personally with a family and for safety and all these things, like there’s something very attractive about Canada.”

After a standout career at the University of Minnesota, it was brought to Wolitarsky’s attention that he could be a national player in the CFL since his mother was born in Montreal. He got his Canadian citizenship after the 2017 CFL Draft, leading to the Bombers taking him in a supplemental draft. In 98 career games, the two-time Grey Cup champion had 227 receptions for 2,954 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.

He was not just a fan-favourite, but also a locker room-favourite for being California-cool and having a magnetic personality.

“I love Winnipeg, man. I really do. I’d be so happy to just even come back and visit.”

He also fully embraced Winnipeg, spending 2020 here despite the season being cancelled, and dove head first into the local music scene. After his release, Wolitarsky returned to the city and threw a farewell concert at The Osborne Taphouse.

“I love Winnipeg, man. I really do. I’d be so happy to just even come back and visit,” he said.

“I’m probably going to throw a little party again. Maybe do a little concert again and have everyone out again to just say thank you… It’s such a small, big city. You know everybody, you love your neighbours, everyone’s friendly, everyone’s looking after each other. You kind of have the chip on the shoulder where everyone thinks where you live sucks, and you kind of love that because it keeps everyone out and you guys are all happy where you live.”

So what’s next? Wolitarsky isn’t entirely sure. Coaching, teaching, music, football, everything’s on the table — except for a 9-to-5 desk job, that’s not his shtick.

“Life goes on, man. But there’s still great things to be done.”

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