From high school to the CFL, Borsa and Lowes teammates through it all

Kyle Borsa and Robbie Lowes are used to facing off against each other in practice, and that’s not going to change in the CFL.

Borsa, a running back, and Lowes, a linebacker, have been teammates for years. It began as members of the Riffel Royals when Lowes was a senior and Borsa was just in Grade 10.

They were teammates again a few years later, when Lowes joined the University of Regina Rams after time spent with the Regina Thunder and Westshore Rebels junior teams.

And even when the two didn’t get to pick where they would start their CFL careers, they wound up being taken by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers just four picks apart in the 2021 draft.

“It feels like we’ve been teammates and friends forever. It’s just a blessing to take that next step with him and we’re going to push each other to become the best players that we can. That’s what we already do and we’re just going to intensify that even more,” said Lowes.

Lowes was taken in the fourth round (34th overall) of the May 4 CFL draft by Winnipeg. Then, with the 39th pick overall, the Blue Bombers took Borsa.

The two had been training together for the draft through the off-season and filmed their combine results at the same time.

During that process, they never thought the same CFL team would be giving them a call on draft night.

Kyle Borsa. (Courtesy Piper Sports Photography)

“We kind of joked about it and said how cool it would be. We didn’t actually think it was going to happen because the chances of that happening are pretty slim. But that’s just the way the cards fell,” Borsa said.

“We’re both extremely excited to take on this next chapter of professional football together and it’s going to be nice to have a guy there that you can trust and is a good buddy and who you’ve went through so much already.”

Borsa is from Regina but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t happy to see he was going to don Blue Bomber colours and join fellow Canadian running back Andrew Harris.

“I was going to go to whoever took me; it didn’t matter who it was. I was pumped when Winnipeg called me because if you know anything about the Canadian game, you want to go to a place that plays your position as a Canadian — and, as a running back, that is pretty rare in this league,” Borsa said. “The one team that does believe in Canadian skill players chose me.”

And for Lowes, getting drafted to Winnipeg is a sort of homecoming for him. While he has spent most of his life in Regina, he was born in Brandon.

“(I’m) kind of going back to those Manitoba roots,” Lowes said. “I like the city. They’ve got a great fan base and I’m looking forward to playing in the Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl.”

Both Borsa and Lowes have signed their rookie contracts with the Bombers.