The rise of Windsor’s elite athletes

The City of Windsor has a long history of producing professional athletes, according to the Windsor-Essex Sports Hall of Fame. In the past 20 years, there has been several “Windsorites” that have made it to the big leagues. Some names consist of Oshiomogho Atogwe, graduated from W.F Herman Secondary then entered the NFL draft in 2005, Zack Kassian, homegrown from Leamington, was drafted to the NHL in 2009 and then Stanley Cup champion, Aaron Ekblad, born in Belle River.  

The Windsor-Essex community has been very fortunate to have representation in professional sports. Windsor will continue to get more recognition through the NFL. The Holy Names alumni, Theo Johnson, was drafted to the New York Giants this past April. Johnson spent his collegiate years at Penn State University, where Johnson recorded 12 touchdowns with over 900 yards throughout the four years as a Nittany Lion.  

Johnson has now played six weeks as a professional football player, the rookie has caught eight passes for 85-yards throughout the season thus far. Johnson averages 10-yards per catch with no touchdowns. The rookie Tight End has proven himself as an athlete, as Johnson is also a part of the kickoff team and kick return team. 

The last time a Windsor athlete made it to the NFL was in 2012, when Catholic Central’s Tyrone Crawford was drafted to the historic franchise in the Dallas Cowboys. Crawford had a successful professional career, playing 8 seasons with the Cowboys. Crawford recorded 25 sacks, and 194 total tackles in his tenure with Dallas.  

While the Windsor population is slowly growing, the community should be prepared to see more local athletes fulfilling their dreams of becoming a professional athlete.