2025 CFL DRAFT: Calgary's Ope Oshinubi used football dreams to survive serious skin syndrome

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Ope Oshinubi is oh-so wide-eyed — perhaps more than any of the prospects in the 2025 CFL Draft class — about the opportunity for a career in pro football.

Because not long ago, the running back from Calgary could barely open his eyes — his sight threatened for years by a serious skin condition.

The disorder — known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome — first took hold of him while he was attending middle school and comprised his ability to see, walk and even eat for weeks at a time.

“Yeah, so it’s an autoimmune disease that affects your mucosal membranes,” explained Oshinubi. “You get these lesions that show up all of your skin, and it was the worst in my mouth.

“It really was emotional for me,” he continued, recalling his days before football during years spent in and out of the hospital. “It was really tough for me, because it just kept recurring and kept recurring and recurring, and it was really hard for me.

“There were honestly times I really didn’t think I was gonna make it.”

What kept him going, he declares, was football.

Oshinubi had yet to play the game but — somehow — knew it was worth fighting through his struggles to get into the sport.

“Yeah … my family really wanted me to stop playing sports and stop doing everything at that time, and I really, really wanted to play football,” Oshinubi said. “I had never played football. At that point in time, when I was going to high school, I really wanted to play football, and I was able to get through that sickness.

“Thank God I made it through.”

Fast-forward a handful of years and Oshinubi is through with flying colours, having taken up football and excelled at it enough — he posted the fastest 40-yard dash at the 2025 CFL Combine with a time of 4.41 seconds — to become one of the higher-profile Canadians eligible for Tuesday’s CFL Draft (4 p.m., TSN).

The graduate of Robert Thirsk High School in the city’s northwest is one of a few talents from Calgary likely to hear his name called during this year’s edition of the annual pick-em.

And when he does, Oshinubi is likely to become emotional all over again.

“I feel like football was a big influence on me as a kid, because at the time, I was so sick — I couldn’t really walk and really do anything,” said the now 6-foot-2, 225-lb. University of Alberta Golden Bears backfield graduate. “So it really put in perspective for me of what it means to have an able body — that’s a real blessing. So that really drove me to use it to the best of my abilities in every way I could. That’s really what created the passion of football for me.

“They did so many things in the hospital, and then they did blood transfers. We did a bunch of antibiotics and stuff, but nothing really helped it honestly. So I really just had wait it out, take pain meds, and then hopefully it didn’t happen again. But I had it maybe five, six times over those years.

“The main worry about Stephens-Johnson Syndrome is it can kind of make you blind, because it can affect your eyes and your mouth and all your skin — and it did affect my eyes. I could barely open them. And I couldn’t really open my mouth at all — I couldn’t eat.

“It was just crazy.”

Oshinubi still has a “bunch of scars from it all over” his body from the experience.

And he’s still afflicted by the condition but its effect is far less intense these days.

The deal is he grew out of it and pushed on to became a star in U SPORTS football. He amassed 887 yards on 129 carries and caught 20 balls for 143 more yards in 29 games over his four seasons with the Golden Bears. He also returned 16 kicks and embraced special-teams duties.

“I feel like I’m a grinder,” Oshinubi said. “You know … whatever position the team needs me to put it to be in, I’m gonna be there. And I feel like, obviously, I lean a lot on my speed. As a running back, I like plays where I can get outside and hit green grass and just use my speed and just go. I like screen plays, I like outside zone … things like that.

“I was always the fastest, and I always liked hitting the rock, so I love it, and it’s a lot of fun. So I’m a downhill runner, but I also love to hit, too. You know as running back, you’ve gotta love contact. So, yeah, just hit and spin.”

Oshinubi credits U of A head coach Chris Morris and strength and conditioning guru Smith Wright for helping turn him into a gym rat, a strong specimen at 6-foot-2, 225 lb. and an élite player at the university level who’s now ready for the CFL Draft.

“You know … I started playing football in Grade 10, and that was nine years ago now,” added Oshinubi. “So I’ve always wanted to be here. I’ve always seen the guys that are going here and be like, ‘Yo, I want to be like them.’ So, yeah, it’s huge for me — for real — so huge. And it’s a good opportunity.

“I’m very thankful.”

SHORT YARDAGE

Oshinubi’s hometown team, the Calgary Stampeders, own the No. 1 pick overall and also pick eighth in the first round of Tuesday’s CFL Draft … Other high-profile draft-eligibles with Calgary ties include Calgary Dinos safety Nate Beauchemin — the U SPORTS defensive player of the year — and Calgary native Sam Carson, a 6-foot-4, 300-lb. offensive lineman with the NCAA’s Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks … From TSN analyst Jim Barker: “Calgary could go Nate Beauchemin at No. 8. And it wouldn’t shock me if the Stampeders went on Sam Carson, because he is a Calgary guy and his dad is a line coach in the city.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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