Drew Wolitarsky
{{Short description|American gridiron football player (born 1993)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox CFL player
| name = Drew Wolitarsky
| image = 2022, 82, Drew Wolitarsky.jpg
| image_upright = 0.95
| caption = Wolitarsky with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2022
| birth_date = {{birth date and age |1995|3|22}}
| birth_place = Santa Clarita, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| team = Hamilton Tiger-Cats
| number =
| status = Active
| import = no
| position1 = Wide receiver
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 223
| college = Minnesota
| high_school = Canyon High
| CFLDraftedYear = 2017
| CFLDraftedRound = Supplemental
| CFLDraftedPick =
| CFLDraftedTeam =
| playing_years1 = {{CFL Year|2017|2024}}
| playing_team1 = Winnipeg Blue Bombers
| playing_years2 = {{CFL Year|2025}}–present
| playing_team2 = Hamilton Tiger-Cats
|career_highlights=
| CFLAllStar =
| CFLWestAllStar =
| awards =
| statlabel1 = Games played
| statvalue1 = 96
| statlabel2 = Receptions
| statvalue2 = 227
| statlabel3 = Receiving yards
| statvalue3 = 2,954
| statlabel4 = Receiving touchdowns
| statvalue4 = 18
| CFL = drew-wolitarsky/163447
}}
Drew William Wolitarsky (born March 22, 1995) is an American–Canadian professional football wide receiver for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL).{{cite web |title=Drew Wolitarsky bio |url=https://www.cfl.ca/players/drew-wolitarsky/163447/ |website=Canadian Football League |access-date=February 2, 2025}} He is a two-time Grey Cup champion after winning with the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021.
College career
Wolitarksy played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 2013 to 2016.{{cite news |title=New Canadian Wolitarsky an intriguing prospect |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/football/roster/drew-wolitarsky/1374 |publisher=Minnesota Golden Gophers |access-date=September 5, 2021}} Over the course of his collegiate career, he played in 47 games where he recorded 130 receptions for 1,749 yards and nine touchdowns. In his final game as a college athlete, in the 2016 Holiday Bowl, Wolitarsky led his team in receiving with five catches for 73 yards in the upset win over the Washington State Cougars.{{cite news |title=Minnesota vs Washington State – Game Summary |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/400876095 |publisher=ESPN |date=December 28, 2016 |access-date=September 5, 2021}}
Professional career
=Winnipeg Blue Bombers=
Following his time with the Golden Gophers, Wolitarsky was not selected in the 2017 NFL draft and had an unsuccessful tryout with the Minnesota Vikings.{{cite news |title=Q&A: Drew Wolitarsky on becoming a Canadian citizen and his jealousy of the current Gophers offense |author=Owen Mageau |url=https://mndaily.com/198893/sports/spq-a0907/ |publisher=Minnesota Daily |date=September 8, 2017}} His brother, Austin, encouraged him pursue a career in the Canadian Football League where he could qualify as a National player with a Canadian citizenship since his mother was from Montreal.{{cite news |title=New receiver adds Canadian content |author=Mike Sawatzky |url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/new-receiver-adds-canadian-content-433738183.html |publisher=Winnipeg Free Press |date=July 10, 2017 |access-date=September 5, 2021}} He applied for his citizenship, got it approved in one day, and notified the Canadian Football League Players' Association who relayed the information to the league's teams. Since the 2017 CFL Draft had already passed, Wolitarsky was made eligible in a supplemental draft where he was selected by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on June 27, 2017 who forfeited a third round selection in the 2018 CFL Draft for his playing rights.{{cite news |title=Bombers select WR Drew Wolitarsky in Supplemental Draft |url=https://www.cfl.ca/2017/06/27/bombers-select-wr-drew-wolitarsky-supplemental-draft/ |publisher=Canadian Football League |date=June 27, 2017 |access-date=September 5, 2021}} He signed a practice roster agreement on July 11, 2017.{{cite news |title=Bombers add receiver Drew Wolitarsky to practice roster |url=https://www.bluebombers.com/2017/07/11/bombers-add-receiver-drew-wolitarsky-practice-roster/ |publisher=Winnipeg Blue Bombers |date=July 11, 2017 |access-date=September 5, 2021}} Wolitarsky played in his first professional game on October 6, 2017 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats where he had one catch for 15 yards.{{cite news |title=Drew Wolitarsky |url=https://www.bluebombers.com/players/drew-wolitarsky/163447/ |publisher=Winnipeg Blue Bombers |access-date=September 5, 2021}} He played in five regular season games in his rookie season and also dressed in the team's West Semi-Final loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.
Wolitarsky earned a starting position with the Blue Bombers following 2018 training camp and in his first career regular season start on June 14, 2021, against the Eskimos, he scored his first career touchdown on a 20-yard reception from his former college teammate, Chris Streveler.{{cite news |url=https://www.cfl.ca/2018/06/15/weathering-storm-esks-outlast-bombers-season-opener/ |title=Weathering the Storm: Esks outlast Bombers in season opener |publisher=Canadian Football League |date=June 15, 2018}} He had a career-high 10 receptions for 90 yards in an August 25, 2018, game against the Calgary Stampeders. He played and started in all 18 regular season games where he had 45 catches for 650 yards and five touchdowns.{{cite web |url=https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021-CFL-Guide.pdf |title=2021 CFL Guide |publisher=Canadian Football League |page=64 |access-date=September 5, 2021}} He also started in both post-season games where he totalled six receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown.
During his third season with the Blue Bombers, Wolitarsky played and started in 17 regular season games and had 33 catches for 361 yards and four touchdowns. He also played in both playoff games, recording five catches for 78 yards, leading to Wolitarsky playing in his first Grey Cup championship game. In the 107th Grey Cup, he had three catches for 40 yards as the Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 and Wolitarsky won his first championship. After that season, he signed a two-year extension to remain in Winnipeg through the 2021 season.{{Cite news |title=Bombers sign national receiver Drew Wolitarsky to two-year contract extension |author=Ted Wymand |url=https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/bombers-sign-national-receiver-drew-wolitarsky-to-two-year-contract-extension |publisher=Winnipeg Sun |date=December 15, 2019}} However, he did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season. In 2021, Wolitarsky produced 386 yards and one touchdown on 32 receptions. He also played in both post-season games that year, including the 108th Grey Cup game where he had four receptions for 48 yards as he won his second Grey Cup championship.{{cite web|url=https://static.cfl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2050/11/2024-CFL-Guide-Digital.pdf |title=2024 CFL Guide |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=January 27, 2025}}
In 2022, Wolitarsky played in 14 regular season games where he had 36 catches for 471 yards and one touchdown. He also had one catch for eight yards in the 109th Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts. In the 2023 season, he played in all 18 regular season games where he had a career-high 47 receptions for 668 yards and six touchdowns. He played in his fourth Grey Cup game where he had one catch for nine yards in the 110th Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes. Wolitarsky played in just 10 games in 2024 where he had 33 catches for 403 yards and one touchdown.{{cite web|url=https://static.cfl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024-GN-Gm-95-Wpg-vs-Tor-GC111-1.pdf |title=111th Grey Cup notes |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=January 27, 2025}} After seven seasons with the Blue Bombers, he was released on January 27, 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.bluebombers.com/2025/01/27/blue-bombers-release-receiver-drew-wolitarsky/ |title=Blue Bombers release receiver Drew Wolitarsky |publisher=Winnipeg Blue Bombers |date=January 27, 2025}}
=Hamilton Tiger-Cats=
=Statistics=
| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="0" width="65%" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="2" | Receiving ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="7" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="7" | Post-season | ||||||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year ! Team ! {{Tooltip|GP|Games played}} ! {{Tooltip|GS|Games started}} ! {{Tooltip|Rec|Receptions}} ! {{Tooltip|Yards|Receiving yards}} ! {{Tooltip|Avg|Average yards per reception}} ! {{Tooltip|Long|Longest reception}} ! {{Tooltip|TD|Touchdowns}} ! {{Tooltip|GP|Games played}} ! {{Tooltip|GS|Games started}} ! {{Tooltip|Rec|Receptions}} ! {{Tooltip|Yards|Receiving yards}} ! {{Tooltip|Avg|Average yards per reception}} ! {{Tooltip|Long|Longest reception}} ! {{Tooltip|TD|Touchdowns}} | ||||||||||||
| ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2017 | WPG | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018
| WPG | 18 | 18 | 45 | 650 | 14.4 | 60 | 5
| 2 | 2 | 6 | 81 | 13.5 | 20 | 1 |
| ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2019 | WPG | 17 | 17 | 33 | 361 | 10.9 | 24 | 4
| 3 | 3 | 8 | 118 | 14.8 | 34 | 0 |
| ALIGN="center"
| 2020 | WPG | colspan="7" | Season cancelled | colspan="7" | Season cancelled | ||||||||||||
| ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2021 | WPG | 14 | 14 | 32 | 386 | 12.1 | 37 | 1
| 2 | 2 | 6 | 70 | 11.7 | 19 | 0 |
| ALIGN="center"
| 2022 | WPG | 14 | 14 | 36 | 471 | 13.1 | 41 | 1
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 18 | 0 |
| ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2023 | WPG | 18 | 18 | 47 | 668 | 14.2 | 36 | 6
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 10 | 0 |
| ALIGN="center"
| 2024 | WPG | 10 | 10 | 33 | 403 | 12.2 | 25 | 1
| colspan="7" | Injured | ||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="2" | CFL totals ! 96 !! 91 !! 227 !! 2,954 !! 13.0 !! 60 !! 18 ! 12 !! 12 !! 25 !! 323 !! 12.9 !! 34 !! 1 |
Personal life
Wolitarksy was born in Santa Clarita, California, to John and Audrey Wolitarsky. His mother was originally from Montreal where she met his father, who was from the United States but living in Montreal.{{cite news |title=New Canadian Wolitarsky an intriguing prospect |url=http://winnipegsun.com/2017/07/10/new-canadian-wolitarsky-an-intriguing-prospect/wcm/0d1c6c75-79ca-4178-8b3c-2a43c2577596 |website=Winnipeg Sun |date=July 10, 2017 |access-date=2018-06-23}} Due to his mother's Canadian citizenship, Wolitarsky pursued his own citizenship for Canada and received it in time to be able to play in the 2017 CFL season. Wolitarsky is also a musician and released his first EP on January 29, 2021.{{cite news |title=Bombers receiver Wolitarsky trades pigskin for guitar, releases first EP |author=Alan Small |url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/down-set-strum-573682042.html |publisher=Winnipeg Free Press |date=January 29, 2021 |access-date=September 5, 2021}}
On March 8, 2024, it was announced via instagram that he had married his fiance, Savannah Benton. The subsequently announced they were expecting on April 25, 2024, also via their instagram.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
{{commonscat}}
- [https://www.ticats.ca/players/drew-wolitarsky/163447/ Hamilton Tiger-Cats profile]
- [https://gophersports.com/sports/football/roster/drew-wolitarsky/1374 Minnesota Golden Gophers profile]
{{Hamilton Tiger-Cats roster navbox}}
{{107th Grey Cup}}
{{108th Grey Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolitarsky, Drew}}
Category:Winnipeg Blue Bombers players
Category:Canadian football wide receivers
Category:American football wide receivers
Category:Players of American football from Santa Clarita, California
Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
Category:Players of Canadian football from California