Arek Bigos

Arek Bigos (born July 25, 1973) is a Polish former professional Canadian football placekicker who played for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played CIAU football at the University of Waterloo.

Arek Bigos

No. 5[1]
Position:	Placekicker
Personal information
Born:	(1973-07-25) July 25, 1973 (age 52) Rumia, Poland
Height:	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:	178 lb (81 kg)
Career information
University:	Waterloo
Career history
Montreal Alouettes (1998)* Toronto Argonauts (1998)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only

Early life

Arek Bigos was born on July 25, 1973, in Rumia, Poland.^[1] He was a soccer player growing up and played the sport semiprofessionally.^[2] In 1989, Bigos and his family emigrated from Gdańsk to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada in order to "escape the communist regime."^[2] His family ran the Country Burger restaurant in Mississauga.^[2] While in Canada, Bigos became a Toronto Argonauts fan.^[3] He was a member of the Waterloo Warriors football team of the University of Waterloo from 1993 to 1997.^[4][1] He finished his university career as the team's all-time leading scorer while earning Ontario all-conference honors three times and All-Canadian honors twice.^[4] He led the CIAU in field goals in 1997.^[5] Bigos was also the team's punter during his final season at Waterloo.^[3]

Professional career

Bigos signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 1998. He made a 42-yard field goal during the team's first preseason game.^[6] He was released on June 20 before the start of the 1998 regular season.^[7] Bigos was reportedly offered a spot on Montreal's practice roster but turned it down due to work commitments as a Toronto-based financial planner.^[6][3]

Bigos was then signed to the practice roster of the Toronto Argonauts.^[3] After two weeks on the practice roster, he was promoted to the active roster and made his CFL debut on August 13 against his former team, the Alouettes.^[3] Bigos made two of two field goals as the Argonauts won 24–20.^[3][8] Noel Prefontaine had been serving double-duty as Toronto's placekicker and punter but was relegated to just punter after Bigos took over the placekicking duties.^[3] Bigos played in 12 games for Toronto during the 1998 season, converting 23 of 36 field goals and 32 of 32 extra points.^[1] He led the team with 111 points that year.^[5] The Argonauts finished the year with a 9–9 record and lost in the Eastern semifinal to Montreal 41–28.^[8] He became a free agent after the season and re-signed with the Argonauts on January 18, 1999.^[4] However, Bigos suffered knee ligament damage during a workout and was then released on May 13, 1999.^[9][10][1] His salary while with the Argonauts was reportedly CA$30,000.^[11]