Weston Dressler says retirement is ‘a done deal’

Weston Dressler said Thursday his retirement from the CFL is “a done deal.”

Except …

“I have thought about (how to make the announcement) and I have my own personal thoughts on what I want to do eventually, but for right now, I’m going to hold off on that aspect as far as actually signing the papers,” Dressler said from Bismarck, N.D. “I’m not ready to say that I’ve officially retired.”

Having said that, the 34-year-old Dressler stressed his CFL career likely is over. He spent eight seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before spending three campaigns with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Dressler, who hasn’t been signed since becoming a free agent in February, recently started a job with a health care provider in Bismarck. He started talking with the company during the off-season and, when CFL teams didn’t come calling, he decided to hang up his cleats.

“It seemed like it was the right time, just because of the timing of when I was finding things out (about his prospects in the CFL) and learning more about the next opportunity as well,” Dressler told The Green Zone’s Jamie Nye. “It kind of all fell into place and it just made it a little bit easier that way.”

That said, Dressler admitted “it’s definitely tough when you have to call it a day.”

The 5-foot-8, 165-pound receiver/returner burst onto the CFL scene in 2008 as an unheralded free agent out of the University of North Dakota.

Weston Dressler/Instagram

All he did in his first CFL season was catch 56 passes for 1,128 yards and six touchdowns and add more than 1,000 yards on punt and kickoff returns. He was named the league’s most outstanding rookie.

Before he was unceremoniously released by then-Roughriders head coach Chris Jones prior to the 2016 season, Dressler had caught 539 passes for 7,797 yards and 51 touchdowns in 123 regular-season games.

Over his three seasons in Winnipeg, Dressler added 176 catches for 2,229 yards and 10 TDs in 38 regular-season games.

He was a four-time division all-star and a two-time CFL all-star during his career.

So, if a team short of receivers was to call and offer him a contract in the next little while …

“There’s pretty much next to no chance,” Dressler said. “I started working on Monday, so I’m full go on this opportunity. I want to give it a real chance.

“I’m just getting to know now a lot of the people that I’ll be working with and the type of role that I’m going to have within the community here in Bismarck. It looks very promising and it’s something that I think I will enjoy a lot. Football is pretty much guaranteed to be done.”

Dressler had his share of downs during his career in Saskatchewan, including a broken leg in 2009 and losses to the Montreal Alouettes in both the 2009 and ’10 Grey Cup games.

The ups included five 1,000-yard receiving seasons and a Grey Cup title in 2013. Saskatchewan defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 in that contest at Mosaic Stadium.

“That was pretty special and it’s simply because of the time that was put in between all of us,” Dressler said, referring to the core group that also included quarterback Darian Durant and receivers Rob Bagg, Andy Fantuz and Chris Getzlaf.

“We obviously lost two tough Grey Cups a few years before that, in ’09 and ’10, and to fight through that (was special). We kind of hit a low point in 2011 there for a little while and to be able to rebuild, so to speak, and get back to that calibre of team that could compete in a Grey Cup game, that alone was an achievement.

“Then, to finally pull it off and be able to win one was great. To be able to do that at home in front of our home fans was incredible.”

Dressler was a fan favourite in Saskatchewan, in part because he overcame his size by being a fiery competitor. He tried as hard during practice as he did during games and used that drive to outperform people who were bigger, faster and stronger than he was.

His popularity in Saskatchewan led to his image being on boxes of potato chips and to his No. 7 jersey being one of the Roughriders’ top sellers.

“It’s just kind of surreal …,” Dressler said of his popularity. “I can’t even explain how thankful I am because the fans are what make and drive that league. Without them, we wouldn’t even be able to have a game.

“I’m just very thankful that the CFL is there and that the fans are as passionate as they are because that makes it a lot of fun as a player.”