The accidental Canadian

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/05/2015 (3973 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He grew up in Sarasota, Fla., played his football at Dartmouth and admittedly knows little right now of Winnipeg and the Blue Bombers.

All that said, Garrett Waggoner is the latest ‘Canadian’ to be added to the team’s upgrade of national talent after the club surrendered a 2016 first-round draft pick to select him in Wednesday’s CFL Supplemental Draft.

“What do I know about Winnipeg?” began Waggoner in a phone interview with the Free Press from Sarasota. “Not a whole lot, to be honest. I know where it is, that Manitoba is in the middle of the country, and that it’s north of North Dakota. Other than that, I don’t know a ton.

“But I’m super excited. I actually train in Tampa with (Bomber receiver) Nick Moore and so throughout the whole process he’s been pushing me, saying ‘You’re going to be in Winnipeg. You’re going to be a Blue Bomber.’ It’s funny to see everything come to fruition.”

The supplemental draft goes a week after the regular CFL Draft and includes players who don’t have their paperwork in order or were not initially deemed eligible. Waggoner became a Canadian citizen because his father, Scott, was born in Burlington, Ont. — his grandfather, Hal, played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1950s — before moving to Florida. Garrett attended Dartmouth on a football scholarship and was twice an All-Ivy League first team all-star.

Waggoner’s rights initially belonged to the B.C. Lions, who liked him so much as an import prospect, they put him on their neg list. But when the Canadian angle became known — after TSN draft guru Duane Forde recognized the family name and contacted the family wondering if he’d be eligible to be considered Canadian by the new CFL rules — he was made eligible for the supplemental draft.

Bomber assistant GM Danny McManus worked him out in Sarasota prior to the draft and was blown away by his testing, including running a 4.5/4.6 40, a 37-inch vertical and 10-foot broad jump. A 6-1, 225-pound linebacker/safety, Waggoner projects to play at the linebacker spot the Bombers plan to turn into a Canadian starter, along with Sam Hurl and Graig Newman.

“What caught your attention when his name came up, and after you follow up on all his pro-day stuff is his testing numbers are off the charts. They’re phenomenal,” said Bombers GM Kyle Walters. “You put on the film and he’s running around killing people. He played free safety, he played linebacker… he’s a pretty unique talent and, on top of that, he’s very intelligent. He’s the complete package for us.”

Waggoner, who said it was ‘pretty crazy’ that a kid from south Florida is now considered a Canadian, has spent the last little while studying up on the CFL by watching, among other things, YouTube videos. As for adjusting to the temperatures north of the 49th parallel, Waggoner chuckled and added:

“I went to school in Dartmouth. I’ve seen 43 below… I’ve stared into the teeth of some cold weather.”

BLUE NOTES:

The Bombers locked up two members of their 2015 draft class on Wednesday, inking defensive backs Brendan Morgan (6-0, 195 Queen’s) and Justin Warden (6-2, 200, Bishop’s) to contracts… The club also cut import LB Kenny Tate, who had been signed after the team’s free-agent camp in Florida last month.

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait