Determined to succeed, inspire

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This article was published 24/03/2021 (1690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Michael Ritchott is hoping to hear his name called in the upcoming CFL Draft, but not for the same reason as most prospects. 

The University of Manitoba Bisons running back and return specialist is determined to inspire others who’ve had a challenging childhood as he did.

“At the end of the day, you’re going to be in control of your own fate. I know people have terrible upbringings and there are kids who come from next to nothing, but when you get to a certain age, you have to determine whether you want that for yourself or whether you want to follow what has been laid out for you,” Ritchott told the Free Press on Wednesday. 

“I would just love to say ‘You know, I chose a different path and was able to do this,’ and show people my results. That’d be a great thing for me. I think that’d be more satisfying than playing in the CFL. To be able to tell people no matter what your parents lay in front of you, you are able to be successful.”

Ritchott, who was announced earlier this week as one of the invites to the CFL’s national combine, comes from a family of six kids who were raised by a single mother in Winnipeg’s North End. But going into Grade 6, Child and Family Services had to step in and take Ritchott and his siblings away from their mother. 

“Being apprehended by CFS, I’ll never forget that day. That was something I would never, ever wish against any of my enemies. That was probably the day that I saw for myself that at any given moment, your parents can’t be responsible for you and you have to be somewhat responsible for yourself,” he said. 

“That was where I made a conscious choice that I’m going to do something different than what’s been laid out for me and that I’m going to live a different life than my parents.”

It took nearly two years, but Ritchott is extremely grateful that he and his siblings were eventually able to return to living with their mother after she got her life back together. But the time in foster care wasn’t easy. The only positive to come out of it was it led to Ritchott finding football as he wanted to do anything he could to get out of the house. 

Ritchott attended Grant Park High School where football became no longer an excuse to get away from the house, but something he was passionate about — and damn good at. In Grade 11, he led Grant Park to their first Winnipeg High School Football League title with a two-touchdown performance in the Vidruk AA division championship game against the Miles Mac Buckeyes in 2011. That same season, he was named the division’s top offensive player, and he won the award the following year as well.

Despite all that, there weren’t any U Sports coaches knocking on his door. He took his talents to the B.C. Junior Football League to suit up for the Vancouver Island Raiders for two seasons before returning home to play three more years of junior for the Winnipeg Rifles. During his time with the Rifles, Ritchott became a father as he and his longtime girlfriend Caitlyn had a boy named Andre who’s now four years old. Ritchott ran for over 800 yards in all three seasons with the Rifles and scored 23 total touchdowns, but in 2018, he had to step away from the game.

“I was having some family issues. My girlfriend’s mom passed away with cancer three weeks before she actually had to start school. Leading up to the situation, that was kind of the issue and as well, we have a child. So, being a father, that was my top priority. I know you have a short window to play football in life, but being a dad was priority one,” said Ritchott, who plans to major in social work at the U of M.

“I had to step up and take care of my child while my girlfriend was pursuing her dreams. She had just got into an access program for nursing. For me, it was a no-brainer. I had to make that sacrifice.”

The time away from the game didn’t slow Ritchott down one bit. The next year, he made the Bisons and made an impact immediately. He had a total of 181 all-purpose yards against the Saskatchewan Huskies in his regular season debut and two weeks later against the Alberta Golden Bears, Ritchott exploded for 145 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He also returned a kickoff for 77 yards against Alberta. 

With the 2020 season getting axed owing to the pandemic, Ritchott only has one season of U Sports football on his resumé, but he showed enough to be one of only four players with ties to Manitoba to score an invite to the national combine. Bisons teammate Arjay Shelley, a defensive back from Mission, B.C., defensive back Shae Weekes, a Winnipegger out of Bemidji State, and Riverton product/Calgary Dinos offensive lineman Carter Comeau are the others. 

With the event going virtual this year, Ritchott and the other 168 participants that make up the national, regional, and global combines will have to do their testing, football drills, and interviews through video. Ritchott has to submit his videos by April 10 and the draft is expected to take place in early May. It hasn’t been ideal training for the most important workout of his life in a code red lockdown and coming off a year with no football, but Ritchott was able to train with a friend who has a home gym and lives alone.

“For me, coming to the Bisons I had already just sat out a year so it was very difficult to have to sit out another year. But I feel everything happens for a reason. You can’t control these things and you just have to find a way to get through it. I think at the end of the day, it will show teams who wants to play and who’s able to because it took a lot of motivation for people to push themselves through this pandemic and still keep their bodies in shape and going with it,” he said.

His path to the draft, and life in general, has had many obstacles, but Ritchott has remained positive throughout. At 5-10, 190 pounds, and 25 years old, Ritchott doesn’t have the profile of a can’t-miss prospect, but he believes he can be an exciting playmaker at the next level. All he’s asking for is a chance to prove to a team that he can be their diamond in the rough on draft day.

“Pressure makes diamonds,” he said.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31