From foster care to CFL: Dante Daniels’ journey - BERITAJA

WINNIPEG – Dante Daniels is the first to admit he was an affectional kid. He was truthful speedy to tears, he says, that his foster family utilized to jokingly tease him whenever the waterworks started.

Fast-forward to today, however, and that delicate boy has grown into a 272-pound rookie tight extremity who relishes the unit of a athletics arsenic a basal outlet for the hardships he faced increasing up successful Windsor, Ont. For arsenic agelong arsenic he could remember, shot has been the eventual escape.

“Realizing successful this athletics that you could deed personification legally and not get arrested for it, I return my aggression retired from my puerility aliases from conscionable getting screwed complete astatine different times,” Daniels said pursuing Day 1 of Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie campy astatine Princess Auto Stadium Wednesday. “I’m personification who is hard-nosed and not acrophobic to put my caput successful stuff. I will do thing to protect my teammates. I’ll spell toe-to-toe pinch anyone and make a hole.”

That fierce, protective small heart was forged agelong earlier his assemblage days astatine North Carolina State. As the 3rd oldest of six children, Daniels was forced to turn up fast.

His mother, Dianne, struggled pinch terrible supplier addiction, and his father, Edward, abandoned the family erstwhile Daniels was seven. When his older brothers moved out, Daniels became the man of the location for his 3 younger siblings, astatine 1 constituent collecting cans to gain money for food.

After his mother moved to Detroit, Daniels was near bum and couch-surfing. That is, until Jen and Joel Fillion — already pinch 2 children, including a boy who played shot pinch Daniels — opened their humble location to him, yet becoming his ineligible guardians erstwhile he was 16.

For Daniels, surviving those struggles made the results of past month’s CFL Draft moreover much special. The Bombers selected him pinch the 10th wide pick.

“Getting to telephone Joel and show him everything he helped maine do has worked retired … it was awesome to show him he didn’t discarded his clip connected me,” Daniels said. “I beryllium a batch to them and I couldn’t person done this without them.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea acknowledged that learning about the hurdles players for illustration Daniels person flooded provides an undeniable spark to the locker room.

“There are a batch of guys that travel pinch a very inspiring backstory that could beryllium uplifting erstwhile you perceive about it,” O’Shea said, “and it gives you much energy.”

The Bombers were truthful enamoured by the 24-year-old Daniels that they traded the 13th wide prime successful 2026 and a second-rounder successful 2027 to the Ottawa Redblacks to move up 3 spots to drawback him astatine No. 10.

The move prompted a viral, expletive-laden video from the team’s draught room, featuring wide head Kyle Walters unleashing a rant of axenic excitement complete acquiring specified a unsocial talent. At six-foot-five and much than 270 pounds, Daniels has been described arsenic a “CFL unicorn.”

“It made maine consciousness wanted here. It was very personable,” Daniels said pinch a grin erstwhile asked about the video. “It felt awesome, and I conscionable want to do everything I could to thief them and beryllium the squad right.”

Daniels’ first sensation of master shot was greeted pinch a spot of a acold spell, arsenic the three-day rookie campy opened pinch temperatures conscionable supra freezing. The campy wraps up connected Friday earlier a mandatory time disconnected Saturday, pinch main training campy officially kicking disconnected connected Sunday.

“We drafted him wherever we drafted him because we saw imaginable and we liked what it could perchance do for our offence,” O’Shea said. “Now it’s a training campy setting, truthful fto him execute and conscionable watch more.”

For backmost Zach Collaros, the summation of Daniels creates elasticity connected offence, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to formations connected the statement of scrimmage.

In erstwhile years, the Bombers utilized violative lineman Tui Eli arsenic a sixth eligible blocker successful dense sets. While Eli had reliable hands — he caught a touchdown walk successful a triumph complete the B.C. Lions past play — defences mostly treated those alignments arsenic strict tally plays.

With a existent tight extremity for illustration Daniels, the mathematics changes. Though he caught conscionable 10 passes successful 2 seasons pinch the Wolfpack and saw constricted targets successful his 2 years pinch Butler Community College, his dual-threat imaginable is clear.

“When you’re capable to put a assemblage retired location that could artifact that measurement and besides tally routes and drawback the football, it decidedly presents issues for the defence,” Collaros said.

“If you were to inquire protect co-ordinators that were readying for us, I’m judge it was ‘If (Tui) is successful the game, we’re capable to adhd an other chapeau here’ and not person to interest about a quadrant of the section successful the walk game. With a personification for illustration (Daniels), you’ve sewage to take sides the tally first, truthful sometimes it creates advantageous things connected the backmost end.”

While Daniels hasn’t been successful Winnipeg for long, he said he could get utilized to calling it his caller shot home. His life extracurricular the crippled is besides successful a bully place.

He has since reconnected pinch his biologic father, noting that seeing the sanction “Daniels” connected a pro jersey is simply a constituent of important family pride. He’s not successful arsenic adjacent interaction pinch his mother, but hasn’t ruled retired a meaningful narration successful the future.

He is besides married, and his wife, Reagan, is backmost location successful Wichita, Kansas, waiting for her opportunity to travel sojourn her hubby successful the adjacent future. Daniels hopes to travel successful the footsteps of chap Windsor autochthonal and NFL tight extremity Theo Johnson, who has utilized his level to mentor foster children.

“You ne'er cognize what you could opportunity to personification that could bring them up successful life,” Daniels said. “I’ve sewage to make the about of the opportunity I get.”

This study by BERITAJA was first published May 8, 2026.