‘Surreal and awesome moment’: Former CFL prospects recall 2023 draft night

It’s a night CFL prospects look forward to as their dreams become reality.

The CFL draft gets underway Tuesday at 6 p.m. with Canadian talent patiently waiting to see if their name will be called by a team.

Last year, Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end Lake Korte-Moore was at his home in B.C. waiting for just that to happen.

“That day is awesome,” Korte-Moore said. “My mom came to visit me in Vancouver and I ended up having people over to my aunt and uncle’s place and we just all hung out and ordered pizza and ordered food and had some beverages. Just got together with a bunch of people in my life who have been very close to me throughout my entire football career.”

The 24-year-old didn’t have to wait long as the Riders took him with the third overall pick.

“That was a surreal and awesome moment. I didn’t know what to expect throughout the day,” Korte-Moore said. “I heard some things – some teams called me right before the draft telling me, ‘If you’re around, we really want to get you,’ and things like that. I had no clue where I was going to go at all so it was very interesting to wait there.”

However, the Riders weren’t one of those teams so Korte-Moore was a bit surprised to see the green and white select him.

“I’m just sitting there and beside me was Shomari Williams – a previous first overall pick by the Riders – and I looked at him and they said Saskatchewan’s pick was in and I looked at him and I said, ‘Oh, I guess I’m not going to Sask. and I don’t get to live up to your legacy’ … and then the next thing you know it pops up I’m going to Sask. and it was just an awesome moment,” Korte-Moore said. “It was very surprising but awesome to share it with my family and friends and everyone who was there.”

Linebacker Ryder Varga had to wait a bit longer to have his name called. The Regina product had to wait until the final pick of round three to have the B.C. Lions select him.

“We were just downstairs and they only air the first two rounds on TSN so after that we were just sitting around,” Varga said. “I saw my name pop up on the TV on the tracker and after that we did some celebrating.”

Varga said just shortly after his name came up, a B.C. number gave him a call.

“It was a quick phone call with (Lions head coach) Rick Campbell and after that, everyone started hugging me and high-fiving.

“It’s pretty special. For me, I was so curious about what team was going to take me. You talk to everybody and you’re not sure how it’s going to play out so just take a second to process I got drafted to B.C. — what is that going to look like? I need to get a mattress there, I need to figure out who to live with.

“All of that stuff flashes through your head in the first minute but you have to take it one step at a time and just be happy someone was willing to take a chance on you and just go do what you do best.”

The Riders have the third, 12th, 23rd, 32nd, 41st, 50th and 59th picks in this year’s draft. General manager Jeremy O’Day has some options with some believing they could shore up the offensive line after the retirement of Logan Bandy but Canadian wide receiver could be another position the team attacks under new head coach Corey Mace.