Daniel Adeboboye is living every Toronto kid’s dream: he’s playing on his favourite team, alongside athletes he’s looked up to since childhood. Adeboboye, who was a second round draft pick for the Toronto Argos last year, is gearing up for the 2023 CFL season to begin in June.
“My love for football really started when I saw the Argos,” Adeboboye says. So when it was time for the draft pick, he was nervous waiting to hear his name get called. “Some of the teams prior to Toronto picking said if I was available they would pick me, so I was nervous that I wasn’t going to get to go to Toronto.”
But when the call came, it was from a Toronto number, and Adeboboye knew he had been picked to play for his home team — and his dream team.
There have been some surreal moments so far, including becoming friends with current Argos player and his longtime football idol, Andrew Harris. “Getting to play beside someone who I looked up to when I was younger is unbelievable,” he says.
His journey to the Argos began in Grade 8 — with multiple Toronto high schools hoping to recruit him to join their football teams, Adeboboye chose Northern Secondary School, where his older brother also played football. “I had a decent amount of success in my first years. And when you really love something and you’re good at something, obviously you want to get paid for that,” he says.
Adeboboye was sad to leave Northern after Grade 11 for a U.S. school, but he says Canadian athletes interested in getting into an NCAA Division 1 university were advised to attend a United States prep school to do so. And it worked — he got into Bryant University and, shortly after graduating, was the Argos’s third pick in the 2022 CFL draft and 15th overall pick.
A year into playing with the Argos, Adeboboye has already made an impression — he was nominated for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player in the 2022 CFL awards.
“When the special teams coach Mickey Donovan called me up to ask me to be a part of special teams, I told him, wherever I’m needed on the team, I’m going to put as much effort into that,” Adeboboye says. “Whether I’m a running back or I’m a special teams guy, I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can.”
It’s a testament to the values he’s been brought up on and a reflection of the very Canadian work ethic he brings with him.
“The Canadian players, our way is working hard — even if we won’t get recognized — because it’s best for the team,” he says.
Adeboboye’s goal this year is to earn the chance to play a little more running back, and he says the team is looking good. “We’re doing things with the mindset of being champions. We’re prepared for success.”