‘Street dog’ Schoen never gives up

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This article was published 16/11/2022 (770 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — Long before Dalton Schoen was catching touchdowns for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, his father Kelly offered him some sage, though unorthodox, advice.

Be a street dog.

Dalton was a three-sport star — football, basketball and baseball — at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., at the time, but Kelly didn’t want his son to rest on his laurels.

Dalton, now 26, had no clue what being a street dog even meant, but Kelly — who grew up on a farm in Downs, a small Kansas town of 800 people — was quick to explain.

“Where I grew up, we had wild dogs. They were running out on the countryside, and sometimes in the town, and they had to go find their food every single day. There wasn’t someone that was feeding them, so, you might eat today, but that doesn’t guarantee that you’re eating tomorrow,” said Kelly. He and his wife/Dalton’s mother, Kristi, sat down recently with the Free Press.

“And if it’s me and another street dog, I’m going to hold onto that food pretty tight. You’d hold on tighter than if you knew someone was going to feed you in a couple hours anyway. They’re just tougher, they’re more resilient, they wake up every day with an edge. So I said, ‘You need to be a street dog because they have that hunger every day.’ For whatever reason, it somehow stuck.”

It stuck in a big way, as Dalton writes it on his wrist tape for every game. That mentality helped Dalton burst onto the CFL scene this season, leading to him receiving the league’s Most Outstanding Rookie award on Thursday night in Regina. Dalton’s league-high 16 touchdown grabs and 1,441 receiving yards is the best season by a Bombers receiver since Milt Stegall’s record-breaking year in 2002.

Nobody saw this coming, including his parents. It wasn’t because they doubted him, they just weren’t sure if Dalton was going to get an opportunity.

“It’s been kind of surreal. He comes up here and there’s 25 receivers on the roster and there’s a chance he won’t even make the team,” Kelly said.

“We saw something that had him listed as the fifth-string slotback. You don’t come off the fifth string very often. So, I said, ‘We probably need to go to that first pre-season game because he might be coming home next week.’”

Kelly and Kristi drove 12 hours to Winnipeg to see Dalton, who ended up catching a touchdown that night, and the Bombers open the pre-season against the Edmonton Elks.

Five trips across the border and many touchdowns later, it’s now a drive that Kelly and Kristi — who are also driving to Regina this week for Sunday’s Grey Cup against the Toronto Argonauts — know very well.

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The Schoens didn’t go on your typical family vacations. Instead of going to Disney World to see Mickey and Minnie, Kelly and Kristi would take their three kids, Dalton, Mason, and Chandler, to Kansas State’s football bowl games.

After all, the family bleeds Wildcats purple.

Kristi and Kelly went to K-State and met in their senior year. Mason, Dalton’s older brother, played basketball at K-State as a walk-on. Their older sister Chandler went there before becoming a nurse. And then there’s the long list of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews that studied there, too.

It was Dalton’s childhood dream to not only continue that trend, but also play at K-State. But there was one problem: the school didn’t want him.

He was equally as good at all three of his sports, but in Grade 12, he put all his focus on football. He started the year by breaking a state record for receiving yards in a game with 380 on 12 catches and four touchdowns.

No offer from K-State.

He ended the year with all-state honours, had a report card full of As, was named the 2015 Kansas City Star Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and was one of six national finalists for the Wendy’s High School Heisman award.

Still no offer.

“He was always a high-character kid and a kid that worked hard. He was really a coach’s dream,” said Mike Zegunis, Dalton’s high school football coach. “Nowadays, to go Division I, you almost have to have an incredible junior year. Because by the time you become a senior, a lot of times these schools have already put out their offers by that point.”

Dalton had no choice but to explore backup plans.

“I know there were some really good Division II schools around here that I felt he’d be a really good fit for,” said Zegunis. “There’s a school called Northwest Missouri State and they win a lot of national championships. They’re an elite Division II program. I thought it’d be a great place for Dalton and he’d be able to get a scholarship there and play on the team.”

Dalton, however, was set on going to a school with an engineering program, and none of the Division II colleges offered that. He visited some Ivy League schools, even though they don’t offer athletic scholarships, and sent his tape to four colleges in the Midwest that would give him some academic money due to his 4.4 GPA.

Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, and yes, Kansas State.

Dalton wasn’t asking for a scholarship; he was willing to join the football team as a walk-on. Initially, they all got back to him, except K-State.

“It was tough. Every day people would ask him ‘Where are you going to school?’ and he didn’t have an answer,” said Kristi.

At the last minute, a spot opened up at K-State and they circled back to Dalton. They weren’t rolling out the red carpet for him by any means, but it was something.

He was stuck on scout team for his first two years, but in Year 2, Dalton, with the help of scout team quarterback Skylar Thompson — now the third-string QB for the Miami Dolphins — could no longer be ignored.

Their goal every practice was to terrorize Kansas State’s starting defence and on most days, that’s exactly what Schoen and Thompson did. Dalton got called up to the game day roster the following year and he responded by scoring a 70-yard touchdown against Central Arkansas on his first catch.

K-State eventually righted their wrong and put him on scholarship.

He’d go on to lead the team in all receiving categories as a senior in 2019, as well as catch five passes in an upset victory over No. 5-ranked Oklahoma that year.

Dalton immediately seized his opportunity at K-State, and he’s done the exact same thing in Winnipeg.

“In all honesty, it’s not a shock at all what he’s done in the CFL. That’s who Dalton is. He’s always been an opportunistic guy that takes advantage of his opportunities,” said Thompson in a phone interview.

“He’s not going to be the flashiest guy on film or blow you away with anything, but I will tell you, he’s a lot faster than what people think. He’s got great ball skills, and he’s just a great football player. That’s the best way to describe Dalton. And he’s always had a great sense for the game. So, that doesn’t surprise me at all. But knowing Dalton, he’s not even talking about (his success), the thing he’s probably most proud of is that they’re winning. That’s who Dalton is and what makes him really special.”

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Before heading up north to try his hand at the three-down game, Dalton almost, believe or not, played in a Super Bowl.

Dalton signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop the NFL from holding a season, but things were a lot different. The organized team activities were done virtually and the pre-season, which is the main way for an undrafted player to prove themselves, was axed.

He didn’t stand a chance.

A few months after the Chargers released him, Dalton’s hometown Kansas City Chiefs called. It was December, right before the NFL playoffs, and the first-place Chiefs — led by superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes — told Dalton they’d be signing him if their receivers get hit with a COVID outbreak. Even though Dalton wasn’t under contract, they made him drive 30 minutes to the team’s facility every day to get tested for COVID in case they needed him. The Chiefs went on to lose the Super Bowl 31-9 to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“So, literally, two days before the Super Bowl, if somebody got COVID, he could’ve gone to the Super Bowl,” said Kelly. “But everybody stayed COVID free, so they signed him for the following year.”

Dalton ended up being one of the final cuts. He went on to spend a week and a half on Washington’s NFL team’s practice roster, followed by a return to the Chiefs for a week on Kansas City’s practice roster.

With a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in data analytics, Dalton had a job offer waiting for him back home, but he wasn’t ready give up on pro ball. Fortunately for him, the Bombers, who discovered him at Chiefs camp, came calling. Landing a prominent role with the back-to-back champs was a long shot, but Dalton overcame the odds and went on to have one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history. The NFL could very likely be waiting in wings for him, but for now, Dalton’s focused on one thing.

Being a street dog in the Grey Cup.

“This is what we do it for. Everything that truly matters is still left to play for. All the individual stuff I’ve done, I’m not going to say it’s not important, but it’s secondary. Any individual achievement is secondary in my mind,” said Dalton on Thursday.

“What matters most is what we’re playing for on Sunday. That’s what I want to get done with this group of guys.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31