How former Kansas State wide receiver Dalton Schoen became an All-Star in Canada
When Dalton Schoen was in high school, he had to wake up early to make time for all his extracurricular activities.
In order to become an all-state athlete in baseball, basketball and football (yes, all three) while maintaining a near-perfect GPA at Blue Valley Northwest, he set his alarm for 5 a.m. every single morning.
His mixture of talent and hard work eventually led him to the honor of Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year from the Kansas City Star. From there, he went on to have a successful football career as a wide receiver at Kansas State, where he caught 92 passes for 1,569 yards and nine touchdowns for Bill Snyder and Chris Klieman
Then he signed with NFL teams, including a short stint with the Chiefs, as an undrafted free agent.
These days, he is an all-star playmaker in the Canadian Football League.
But he gets to sleep in now ... all the way until around 5:30 each morning.
“I’m down to one sport,” Schoen said with a laugh. “And there’s no more school. By comparison, it’s really easy to just focus on football.”
Finding stardom with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
No doubt, Schoen is still working hard to be the best athlete he can possibly be. But his work is starting to pay financial dividends now that he is playing football north of the border with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
He signed with the team in 2022 as a last resort, of sorts, when he was unable to secure a season-long roster spot in the NFL. He wasn’t sure what to expect in a new country or in a new league with rules that differ wildly from the American game. But he made the most of his opportunity by catching 151 passes for 2,663 yards and 26 touchdowns over the course of the next two seasons.
Schoen won the Most Outstanding Rookie award in 2022 and was named a CFL All-Star in both 2022 and 2023. An injury derailed his junior season in Canada, but he’s back and ready for another big year.
“My rookie year was better than I could have ever possibly hoped for,” Schoen said. “A couple things broke my way and I was ready for my opportunity. Things fell into place for me and I had a big role in our offense.”
So much so that he remains one of the most dangerous wide receivers in the CFL today.
It’s hard for him to explain how he ended up as a star player in Winnipeg. He had no idea where the city was located on a map when the team first contacted his agent. He was shocked to learn he could drive there in 12 hours. It’s close enough for his family to make it up for games.
Now, when he goes to CFL events across the region, he feels love from fans just like in his college days. Big wins don’t feel quite as special as when he helped K-State upset No. 5 Oklahoma 48-41 in front of a rowdy home crowd in 2019, but they’re close.
The Wildcats helped him along the way
He still has dreams to play in the NFL. But he also yearns for a Grey Cup, the ultimate crown in the CFL.
As an established CFL player, he makes enough money to train year round without taking on a second job. He likes to spend six months in Overland Park and six months in Winnipeg every year.
Adjusting to a league with extra players, bigger fields and all kinds of pre-snap motion for wide receivers (including sprinting forward before a play begins) wasn’t easy. But his game and dependable hands have made him a good match for the CFL.
“Professional football can be a tough journey, but I think my time at Kansas State probably helped me with that to some degree,” Schoen said. “I walked on and had to work my way up. That prepares you for every step in professional football, especially when you’re not a highly drafted guy and you’re grinding from the bottom.”
Schoen is also grateful that he played multiple sports in high school.
He’s not sure where he would be today without all those early wake-up calls.
“That was the foundation that I kind of built everything else on,” Schoen said. “Playing three sports is huge for kids. I had friends in high school who just played football and they only got nine games per season. That was it for their high school year. Whereas I’m getting 25 games in basketball and 20 games in baseball on top of football. You’re just competing so much more.
“My days were long, but they prepared me for anything.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "How former Kansas State wide receiver Dalton Schoen became an All-Star in Canada."