A Woodstock man, drafted this week by the Calgary Stampeders is proving that "Punters are People Too!" 23-year-old Dumitru Ionita was taken in the 7th round of Monday's draft by a team that he says, he never worked out for and never even spoke to before the draft. "I wasn't completely sure that I'd get drafted, because I'm a kicker and I've been out of school for a year-and-a-half now. It was up in the air because last Saturday, I had a pre-draft workout with the Argos, so I had an idea they might take me late in the 7th round. But it was completely unexpected the Stampeders took me. I talked to most teams in the CFL, but Calgary, so that was a big shock when they drafted me." Ionita, who lives in Eastwood, says he got a text from a fellow draftee, and then a call from his agent, informing him he'd been drafted. He was shopping at Winners with his brother when he got the news. He'll head to Calgary at the end of the month for a rookie camp, and expects to compete for a job on the team this spring. "Their punter had a good year last year, but I feel I can beat him out in camp. We'll be competing for the whole month or two." Ionita, played high school football for the St. Mary's Warrior, and went on to play University Football at Concordia. Last year, he played Junior Canadian Football for the the Twin Cities Predators in Waterloo, where he averaged 42.5-yards a punt. During this past off-season, Ionita continued kicking indoors, thanks to the Woodstock Soccer Club for allowing him to train in the Cowan Park Complex. He moved outdoors, and has continued kicking at his old stomping grounds at St. Mary's. He says he hopes he can show local kids that if they put in the work, they can have a shot at playing professional football. "I just want to show Woodstock to keep the youth program going for football, and the high school programs going...just to show that it is possible to go to University and play and move onto the next level and play CFL ball too." VIDEO: Ionita's scouting video from YouTube.
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