Despite the Canadian Football League Players’ Association advising veteran quarterbacks to abstain from attending their teams’ rookie camps, five-year veteran Dakota Prukop is an active participant for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this week.
“While the PA is trying to make a statement, we’re also looking to take care of guys,” Prukop explained after the team’s first day of rookie camp. “I wasn’t in the position to put myself at a competitive disadvantage,”
The veteran pivot may have a point, as Prukop has seen limited action during his previous four CFL seasons, three with the Toronto Argonauts (2017-2019) and one with the Edmonton Elks (2021).
Prukop has suited up for 49 games during his CFL career but has thrown just 56 passes, completing 36 of them for 467 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also rushed for 173 yards and two scores.
The six-foot-one, 208-pound passer was a training camp cut of the Calgary Stampeders last summer after initially signing with the team in 2020 and could use all the reps he can get if he hopes to earn the backup job in Winnipeg behind reigning Most Outstanding Player Zach Collaros. Oklahoma State product Dru Brown and Jake Floriea of John Carroll University are the other two vying for the role.
But do not take Prukop’s attendance as some kind of rebellious streak or an act of defiance against his union, as the Austin, Texas native got the go-ahead to attend from some Bombers veterans, including Collaros and CFLPA vice president Adam Bighill.
“I lost a little sleep over it, but after a couple conversations with Zach and then Adam, it really put my mind at ease,” Prukop said.
