In football there are fewer games than in any other major team sport so each of them is pretty self-contained, with its own story arcs, character development and subplots.
And it gives rise to a common football phrase:
‘What a difference a week makes!’
In this particular case you could add, ‘What a difference a Wheat makes!’
Wheat—his preferred nickname—as in Ticat receiver Keric Wheatfall, who after his first two games as a Tiger-Cat ranks seventh in CFL receptions (9), sixth in yardage (148) and tied for second with teammate Kiondré Smith in big plays of 30 yards or more (2).
He was one of the difference-makers during the Cats’ persistent victory in Winnipeg last Thursday night, a week after a strong Ticat debut that still left him crestfallen because he fumbled in overtime in the loss to Montréal.
But Wheatfall, as confident as they come, called upon a top athletes’ short-term memory mantra that relegates errors to the past, except for what you can learn from them. The result was three superb catches in the first half against the Bombers on precise passes from Bo Levi Mitchell, all of which were athletic, all of which were significant, all of which came in his initial return to Winnipeg where he had spent his first two CFL seasons before the Ticats lured him east as a free agent in February.
“They were all second downs, kept momentum going for us,” Head Coach Scott Milanovich said of Wheatfall’s first-half windfall. “We obviously liked him, went out and got him in free agency. I thought he played well in the first game too, he just had the fumble at the end. He’s a young player who’s finding his way. I think he’s getting better every week, he’s learning how to be a pro, he’s learning how to study and do the right things.”
How does an athlete rebound from a heartbreaking mistake, which Wheatfall vowed he would?
“It starts with yourself,” he says. “But at the same time, team—the coaches and the players—and they held me up and gave me a lot more confidence, actually, to go out there the next week and perform.
“They kept telling me I’m a playmaker and those things happen in football, that you can’t be perfect every game. They were telling me they were going to come right back to me. I put in the work and I was excited to see what I could do.
“I was with Winnipeg the last two years and I was extra excited to go back there and play them. I felt our offence went out there and executed the plan and attacked their DBs.”
And then some.
Wheatfall ran a perfect pattern down the left side of the field against ex-Cat Jonathan Moxey, with a slight inside fade at the tail end to glide under Mitchell’s perfect throw which went for 52 yards late in the first quarter. Mitchell found Smith alone on the very next play to put the Ticats up 7-3.
Then, with just under four minutes remaining in the first half Mitchell dropped a perfect 47-yard dime down the left side which Wheatfall again cut slightly inside to grab, using only his left hand. Two plays later Mitchell hit Smith again to make it 21-10.
“It was definitely one-handed,” Wheatfall confirmed. “I was running a post and I really wanted to come down with two hands and stay on my feet but I reached out with my left hand—I work on that all the time in practice— and executed it.”
And just for good measure, three minutes later, Wheatfall unleashed his track and field muscle memory, with a leaping catch above a well-positioned Moxey for an eight-yard gain on second down, just enough to put Marc Liegghio into range for a clutch 53-yard field goal and a 24-10 lead heading into the intermission.
“I think I can come down with 50-50 balls at a high rate,” he said. “Bo shows confidence in me. I can really tell he’s becoming comfortable in throwing me those balls. All I have to do is take care of my job and run fast and he’s going to put it right in the pocket.
“That jump ball was off of one foot. I was running hard and at the last second I saw the ball coming and I just sprung off my left leg. I couldn’t have done it with my right.”
There’s history in that. Wheatfall is from Brenham, Texas but played his high school football an hour’s drive away in Cypress, part of the Houston metropolitan area. He played a lot of sports, starting with soccer and track and field when he was about seven years old, then transitioning to basketball, before concentrating on flag, then, tackle football by the time he was 14.
The basketball had given him excellent footwork, which helps with jump balls, but he also stayed with track and field, starring in the 100 and 200 metre sprints but also in long jumping and triple jumping, which helped with his ankle mobility.
Like former Cat All-CFLer Tim White, who was a world-class triple jumper, Wheatfall says triple jump was integral to being able to use either foot for elevation. Like White, his triple jump step sequence was left-left-right.
“That is a big factor,” he said. “Because you’re comfortable jumping off either foot. I know some guys always jump off the dominant foot. But me, and probably a guy like Tim who does triple jump too, we’re comfortable jumping off both legs.”
Wheatfall has three older brothers and two younger brothers and the siblings made a contest out of everything when he was growing up. That competitive atmosphere helped him as an athlete and sports in general got him going in the right direction after a couple of struggling academic years early in high school.
He boosted his marks as a junior and senior then completed his academic upgrading while playing football at Blinn College in his hometown. Blinn has always had a healthy program—former Argo quarterback Michael Bishop and NFL quarterback Cam Newton each played there—and Wheatfall attracted Division 1 attention after he was ranked the No. 17 junior college receiver in the U.S. after his second year.
He chose Fresno State, had some good years there and completed his educational turnaround by taking advantage of the pandemic rules and pursuing post-graduate studies. He was undrafted but joined the Philadelphia Eagles and survived until the final week of 2022 training camp, spent some time in the USFL, then went to Winnipeg in 2024.
He made the Bombers’ practice roster but when Kenny Lawler—whom he considers a mentor—was injured in the season’s first game, Wheatfall started the next game. He was injured the next game but returned to play the final five games, plus the post-season and in 2025, he caught 42 passes for 655 yards and four touchdowns in a deep Bomber receiving group. He and Lawler are teammates again, playing off each other in another deep, and fast, corps of pass-catchers.
On that topic, who does he think is the fastest player on the Cats?
“Me,” he answers without hesitation. “C’mon.”
“Who else is in the running? Kenny is up there. Look at the game film: Kenny can roll; he’s got that long stride. Kiondré’s up there too, Myron Mitchell can roll, Isaiah (Wooden Sr.) can roll. We’ve got guys who can move on this team….I’m not the only speedster.”
And if you do manage to catch up to him, don’t call him Keric.
“Call me Wheat,” he emphasizes. “I feel like the ‘Wheat’ just sticks off of me. The other thing is when I introduce myself and I say ‘Keric’ a lot of people can’t really say it and I have to say, ‘It’s like Eric, with a K; Keric.’ So call me Wheat and that makes it easy.”
