Dariusz Bladek (born April 1, 1994) is a Canadian-American professional football offensive lineman for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a Grey Cup champion after winning with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022.
Bladek was born in Clifton, New Jersey, to his Canadian mother, Joyce, and Polish father, Bogdan.[1][2] He grew up in New Jersey and his family moved to Kissimmee, Florida, where he attended Poinciana High School.[3]
Bladek played college football for the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats from 2012 to 2015.[4]
After completing his third year of college eligibility in 2015, Bladek declared for the 2016 NFL draft.[3] After going unselected, he attended mini-camp with the Baltimore Ravens, but was not signed to a contract.[3] Through a conversation with the Calgary Stampeders, he learned that he could qualify as a National player because his mother was a Canadian citizen.[1][3] Due to the length of time that was required to apply for a Canadian passport, he had to bypass the 2016 CFL draft and was eligible for the 2017 CFL draft.[3]
Bladek was drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the second round, 11th overall, in the 2017 CFL draft and signed with the club on May 26, 2017.[5] He made the team out of training camp and dressed in all 18 regular season games and two post-season games in his rookie year. His first professional game was on June 22, 2017, against the Montreal Alouettes. In the 2018 season, he earned his first career start, also against the Alouettes, on June 30, 2018.[6] He played in 16 regular season games in 2018 and 11 games in 2019.
Upon becoming a free agent, Bladek signed a contract with the Toronto Argonauts on February 11, 2020.[7] He signed a contract extension with the Argonauts on December 28, 2020.[8] In 2021, he played and started in 10 regular season games for the team and also started in the team's East Final loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that year.[9]
In the 2022 season, Bladek played and started in 17 regular season games and both post-season games, including the team's victory in the 109th Grey Cup, which was his first Grey Cup in.[9] He suffered an ankle injury in 2023, which caused him to miss the beginning of the season, but remained a healthy scratch to finish the year as the team finished with a 16–2 record.[10] As a pending free agent, Bladek was released on January 18, 2024.[10][11]
On January 31, 2024, it was announced that Bladek had signed with the Ottawa Redblacks.[12]
