'I just blacked out': Windsor's Devin Veresuk reacts to 2nd overall selection by Tiger-Cats

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 2:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Devin Veresuk says helium was astatine his Windsor, Ont., location with household and friends erstwhile his telephone rang connected Tuesday.

It was the Hamilton Tiger-Cats informing him helium was being selected with the 2nd wide prime successful the 2025 CFL draft.

"My bosom sank and I'm similar 'no way.' I picked it up — I was a small tense and I don't adjacent know… I conscionable blacked out. I was conscionable truthful excited," said Veresuk.

The six-foot-two, 240-pound linebacker says helium wasn't expecting to beryllium selected that high.

"But I'm decidedly not huffy astir it astatine all," helium joked.

"I benignant of thought anyplace from rounds 1 to 3 from what my cause was saying. Hamilton did...give maine the champion benignant of similar vibes … erstwhile I had my interrogation with them."

Despite having involvement from elsewhere coming retired of Holy Names Catholic High School successful his hometown, Veresuk chose to enactment section and be the University of Windsor.

"The defence wasn't excessively blistery anterior and past we ended up turning astir and we were 1 of the champion successful the league, truthful decidedly blessed astir it."

Before heading to Hamilton's campy successful May, Veresuk volition be a NFL minicamp with the Indianapolis Colts.

He says involvement from teams began to ramp up precocious aft moving a accelerated 40-yard dash successful 4.47 seconds astatine a Buffalo , N.Y., combine.

"I retrieve increasing up I was ever 1 of the fastest kids successful people school. I've been trained for truthful agelong and it's conscionable similar built into me. I bask running, I bask sprinting. I deliberation it's fun."

The Tiger-Cats' X (formerly known arsenic Twitter) relationship posted a video of their antiaircraft coordinator calling Veresuk to invited him to the team.

"I didn't recognize they were gonna beryllium signaling it, truthful I similar kinda fto immoderate atrocious words alert and I astir apt shouldn't have."

The 23-year-old volition beryllium moving distant from location for the archetypal clip this twelvemonth nary substance wherever his shot vocation goes.

"I deliberation astatine the extremity of the day, I'm acceptable for it. I deliberation I'm mature capable to get retired of the location and I'm honestly excited to... go beryllium connected my ain for a bit."

Veresuk says he's 2 semesters distant from graduating astatine the University of Windsor, wherever he's studied mechanical engineering — and hopes to spot distant astatine his grade successful the disconnected play implicit the adjacent fewer years.

"I request to get it. I've enactment 3 years into it and I don't program connected letting it spell to waste."