Kalil Pimpleton’s first three games in the CFL have been eventful, to say the least. His short stint with the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ first stringers has come with 16 receptions for 289 yards and a touchdown, along with a punt return touchdown of 99 yards on Friday night.
His early success hasn’t come without trials and tribulations, however. After signing with Virginia Tech in 2017, he played in four games before transferring to Central Michigan. There, he caught 170 passes for 2,131 yards in three seasons, but went undrafted in 2022. He got looks with the Detroit Lions and New York Giants, but never saw game action before signing with the REDBLACKS ahead of the 2024 season.
The five-foot-seven speedster has latched onto his sister’s mother-in-law’s saying: there is no testimony without a test. Those who reach great heights have gone through stretches where they had to fight for their place, whether in life, sports, or the business world, there is no such thing as a freebie.
In training camp, Pimpleton did everything he could to earn a roster spot, but still, it wasn’t enough to earn playing time before Week 6, when he got onto the game-day roster in place of an injured Bralon Addison.
“It has been hard to sit out and not be able to help my team,” Pimpleton said. “I’ve had to be patient and wait for my opportunity, that’s my test. I’ve been itching to get out there, I know I’ve been doing a good job, and through that, I have been building confidence. On the other side of that test, I knew there was going to be a reward.”
In the around two-and-a-half months Pimpleton has been in Ottawa before getting his chance, he’s prepared for every game as if he’s going to start, and worked his hardest to gain the trust of the coaching staff to give them the confidence to call his number when they inevitably needed to.
“It was important that as I awaited my opportunity, I stayed ready,” Pimpleton said. “I was learning from the guys in front of me, and honing in on the details of the corrections during film to make sure that when my opportunity did come, I was ready for it.”
With 54 yards receiving under his belt at halftime in his first CFL game in Edmonton, Pimpleton made a quick grab in the third quarter, and ran it all the way to the endzone for a 70-yard touchdown, his first in the CFL.
“It’s funny, we’ve run that play hundreds of times in practice, and sometimes I’ve been hit on it, and others I haven’t,” Pimpleton said. “It was the perfect call for the perfect coverage. It was my first full football game in about two years, so I actually felt slow as I was running, it felt like I had a monkey on my back.”
“I was a little bit gassed, and my legs were a little bit heavy from running more than I have been in the past, but I saw green grass, and I trusted my speed.”
As he was on his way to the endzone, the voices of previous coaches echoed throughout his head, and all he could think about was trusting his speed, stopping only momentarily to appreciate a great block from Dominique Rhymes, and take note of where the defenders were with a quick glance to the video board.
“My coaches used to ask me if I was bored, because I would have an opportunity to outrun somebody, but I would stop my feet and try to juke around them,” Pimpleton said. “It’s always in the back of my mind, the older I get, the more I need to trust my speed.”
His journey to early CFL success left him with plenty of opportunities to step away or quit, but it has never been an option. His days in the Mid-American Conference taught him a lot, especially about self-belief.
“You have to have confidence in your abilities,” Pimpleton said. “A lot of times, because you come from the MAC, you’re underestimated. You have to have confidence when you do get that opportunity, so there’s always a chip on my shoulder, especially being one of the smaller guys on the field.”
Heading into the bye week, the Muskegon, Michigan native is ready to turn the page from his quick start, and overcome whatever challenges come next.
“It’s over with, and it’s on to the next one,” Pimpleton said. “There have been teams who write up game plans to stop me, and maybe it has worked, but that opens the door for others. In the end, it’s not about what they do, it’s about what we do, that’s the mindset I’ll continue to have going forward.”
