Canadian Football League training camps always feature the makings of a story like this. Always have, always will.
And here’s how it regularly unfolds: A guy overlooked by the National Football League turns heads and opens eyes in the first few days of camp. Another prospect from a smaller school, either here in Canada or from the United States, predictably does the exact same thing.
It’s part of what makes the three-down game such fertile ground for storytellers to till, but also such a glorious land of opportunity for so many trying to keep their professional football dreams alive. Dalton Schoen was that story from the very first day of Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie camp, when the words ‘Who is #83?’ were first heard uttered in these parts.
But unlike many who have a good first day and then slowly fade, Schoen’s star only grew brighter day after day after day over the next seven months. Along the way, he became not only one of the most enthralling stories in the CFL in 2022 but also authored one of the greatest rookie seasons in league history.
The tale of Dalton Schoen – ‘The Street Dawg Story’ – comes in at #4 in our annual Blue Bombers Year in Review series.
Rewind to May 11th and the practice field adjacent to the Winnipeg Soccer Federation South Complex on the University of Manitoba campus. Schoen stepped onto the turf that day hoping to stand out among the collection of fresh new faces.
We learned then about Schoen’s compelling backstory – a walk-on at Kansas State with NFL looks from Kansas City, the L.A. Chargers and Washington – Schoen is the personification of an approach to work instilled by his father and his grandfather (that full story, posted during Grey Cup week, can be found here).
When Schoen signed with the Blue Bombers in the spring the roster featured just seven receivers, a number which had ballooned to over 20 during rookie camp. Again though, all Schoen wanted after his NFL tryouts was another opportunity.
“You’re trying to work out every single day with yourself or whoever you have around to help you – I have an awesome trainer back in K.C. and another buddy I work out with – but it’s hard to keep working without knowing what’s coming down the line,” he said in camp.
“I guess Danny McManus (Blue Bombers Assistant GM and Director of U.S. Scouting) saw me when I was in camp with the Chiefs and one day my agent called about this opportunity. He said, ‘let’s sign this deal. Let’s get something you can set some goals for and go attack.’”
“At K-State I didn’t touch the field for two years and in my sophomore year I’m fighting just to get a spot on the bus, but then end up starting. So, you never really know when it’s going to break for you, but you better be ready for when it does. That’s what keeps me driving, keeps me working.
“When you get that one chance, you’d better make the most of it. Then you can get another chance and another chance and that’s when you can prove yourself. You’ve got to fight and claw and scratch for everything you can get.
“My dad always tells me, ‘Go be a street dog,’” Schoen added. “What he meant is nothing is ever going to be given to you, you have to go take it, you have to go earn it. And so, I’ve always had that ‘walk-on’ mentality.”
That work ethic instantly paid dividends for Schoen in Blue Bombers camp. He had already studied the ‘Waggle’ – pre-snap motion by receivers and how that can benefit route-running – and by the time the regular season started, this unheralded receiver was ready to tear up defences.
By the end of the year Schoen hadn’t just earned a roster spot, hadn’t just earned a starting spot, he led the CFL with 1,441 receiving yards on 70 receptions and tied for the lead in touchdowns with 16, all while being named to the CFL All-Star Team and crowned as the league’s Most Outstanding Rookie.
What comes next for Schoen – whether he can parlay his first CFL season into another look from the NFL or return to the Blue Bombers to grow his legacy here – will be every bit as compelling as the last chapter. In either scenario, the ‘Street Dawg’ remains driven and is still hungry.
“My whole journey, my whole career has been people telling me I couldn’t do something,” Schoen told bluebombers.com in November. “My senior year of high school I go out and set a state record for receiving yards and people are still telling me, ‘You’re not good enough to play D-1.’ You hear that enough and maybe you start believing that, too.
“Then I go to K-State as a walk-on and all I hear is ‘It’s cool that you’re on the team, but you’re never actually going to play for real.’ But coach (Bill Synder) said no self-limitations. I didn’t and wouldn’t put those doubts on myself. His whole point was don’t buy in to what other people are saying and believe that you can do it. That continued to prove out at each stage of my career.”
