Stress, anxiety, happiness, and celebration: REDBLACKS reflect on their CFL Draft experience

The CFL Draft is a time of excitement.

Nine franchises have a renewed sense of optimism, expecting to win a Grey Cup in November, and for the 72 players about to be taken, they sit with anticipation and anxiety, waiting for that life-changing phone call.

The Ottawa REDBLACKS hold the most picks of anyone this year, with the first-overall pick, and three more picks in the second round preceeding the remaining six choices in six rounds. Many names have been thrown around in the media, and in meeting rooms, even more have been said, but until the announcement is made on Tuesday night, players will sit at home wondering how things will shake out.

“You have feelings, but you never know,” said Keaton Bruggeling, the REDBLACKS’ third-round pick in 2022. “You never really know what a team thinks of you, and you only have [your own opinion] of how meetings went, so it’s a crazy feeling knowing that you’re going to be shipped off somewhere in Canada a week later.”

In a city blessed with two schools – the University of Ottawa and Carleton University – the REDBLACKS are working with plenty of local talent every year. In some instances, the local products are the best fit, pleasing the front office and the fan base alike, but for the player, it can offer the perfect marriage in their first professional season.

“The fact that I got a call from the REDBLACKS, the hometown team, with how much of a blessing that was – and still is – was best case scenario,” Bruggeling said. “There’s so much uncertainty, but there’s a lot of excitement, as well.”

The Ottawa connection isn’t always something the General Manager is looking for, however. In the case of the REDBLACKS, they have frequented other U SPORTS schools in the past, including the University of Laval, and the University of Alberta, and have even reached their toes into NCAA waters.

In those cases, a player’s adaptability is critical. Antoine Pruneau, who raised himself into becoming one of the all-time great REDBLACKS, attended the University of Montreal, and dreamed of playing for the Montreal Alouettes growing up. After interviews, he grew to like the idea of being a REDBLACK, and says in hindsight, it was probably the perfect place to end up.

“It was far from a disappointment,” Pruneau said. “It was an almost perfect scenario. It was actually good for me to be a few hours away from my friends, it was a bit easier to conduct a professional career when you don’t have the guys asking you to go grab a drink here and there. Ottawa will always be a part of me, and it now feels like home.”

Although not a local, Pruneau was still close enough to home to have his family still be a part of his career.

“My mom cried a little bit, because she knew that it meant she could attend all the home games,” he said. “Her and my dad never missed a game home games, and they always came to see me in Montreal, too. It was pretty special for me to be close to friends and family.”

He admits that the transition to the CFL is a little easier when a high draft pick has been invested in you. Pruneau acknowledges that while the rope isn’t infinite, organizations tend to be a little more willing to allow their big prospects more time, but not everyone is a fourth-overall pick.

Sometimes, you’re a player like Justin Howell, who says he allowed himself to read a little too much about himself, digging into the mock drafts that had him pegged around the second to the fourth round. Of course, it didn’t play out that way, and Howell was taken by Ottawa with the 55th overall pick in 2018.

Ticked off by the perceived slide, Howell came to rookie camp ready to show his worth, and prove some people wrong. Looking up the depth chart was a touch scary, but he pushed through it, working every hour to better himself.

“It was a bit intimidating,” Howell answered. “The speed of the game had increased so much, and I was just trying to stay afloat. It’s new terminology, it’s new systems, the players are all faster, and I was competing against an All-Star calibre player like Pruneau. It was the hardest month of my life, but it really pushed me to work harder.”

It’s possible neither Pruneau nor Howell realized it at the time, but the pair would become extremely competitive in the next handful of years. Pruneau always wanted to keep his spot, never giving anyone an inch for free, and Howell looked to dethrone a fan favourite, a difficult situation for myriad reasons.

“I didn’t help them in the way that I would tell them how to work, but I think I led by example,” Pruneau said. “We built a healthy competitive spirit. We competed whenever we did anything, and if someone else wanted to be the best, they had to go show that they were the best. I was always trying to shut down the other guy. If there was an open spot, I was going to run there first.”

When the draftees arrive at rookie camp, they can expect a competition, and when the main roster arrives a matter of days later, the heat is going to be turned up to uncomfortable levels. With new Head Coach Bob Dyce pushing them along, the pressure will be on, as the organization hopes to create some diamonds.

“It felt pretty similar to my jump from high school to collegiate, it’s just taking that next step,” Bruggeling said of his experience adapting to the professional game. “You have to be that much more dialled, everything required a little bit more attention, and it takes more investment with your time and energy. The biggest jump was that everyone is fast, they’re all cooking around the field.”

A lot of work is still to come, but for one night, prospects have the chance to sit back and enjoy what they have earned. They will remember the night for the rest of their lives.