The Ottawa Redblacks and offensive lineman Dariusz Bladek agreed to a one-year contract extension through the 2025 season on Monday.
Dariusz Bladek is six foot five and weighs 303 pounds. The 30-year-old from Clifton, New Jersey, signed with the Ottawa Redblacks on January 31, 2024. In 2024, Bladek started 17 games. Ottawa’s offense averaged 366.9 net yards per game, 24.6 points per game, 83.7 rushing yards per game, 303.1 passing yards per game, 38 touchdowns, and tied sixth in sacks allowed (40).
The Saskatchewan Roughriders drafted him in the second round (11th pick) of the 2017 CFL Draft. He played three seasons in Saskatchewan playing 45 games, of which 22 were starts. The Toronto Argonauts signed Bladek as a free agent on February 11, 2020. He played two seasons in Toronto playing 27 games. In 2022, he played 17 games helping them win the East Division with an 11-7 record.
Toronto beat the Montreal Alouettes in the East Semi-Final before upsetting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 109th Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan, by the final score of 24-23. It was Toronto’s 18th Grey Cup title in franchise history. In 2023, he did not see any playing time.
Collegiately, Bladek played four seasons at Bethune-Cookman University (2012-15) playing 34 games for the Wildcats. He was named to the 2015 SBN Black College All-America Team.
In 2015, Bethune-Cookman’s offensive line paved the way to lead the MEAC in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (31.4 avg/g), total offense (445.0 avg/g), rushing offense (191.8 yds./g), pass offense (253.2 avg/g), and pass efficiency (164.1 efficiency).
