Rising gridiron star Carmine Bastone

Starting out as a walk-on and emerging as a standout defensive lineman for the Northwestern Wildcats, Carmine Bastone is at the beginning of a similar trajectory in professional football.

Carmine Bastone’s football career at Northwestern University started humbly as a walk-on without a scholarship. By the time it ended five years later, he had earned a starting role on the defensive line and was twice named a team captain.

In his final year, he was selected by his teammates to wear jersey No. 1, the highest honor in the program, signifying that he best embodied what it means to be a Wildcat in the community, in the classroom and on the field.

In his first year in professional football, his career is following a similar trajectory.

After going unselected in the NFL draft in April, Bastone was signed to the practice roster of the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League. He’s already turning heads.

Wearing No. 79, he had taken to the field in three regular-season games at press time as a backup defensive lineman.

“Look for No. 79,” local sports podcaster Jason Gregor noted in a recent episode. “There’s lots of guys talking about him and his potential to come in and help out on the D line.”

Bastone says he had hoped to sign with an NFL team after going unclaimed in the draft, but participation in summer mini-camps hosted by the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs didn’t lead to a job.

“This opportunity came up and I decided not to wait to see if I could play football, and to just play football,” Bastone says.

He says all the CFL teams are accustomed to quickly acclimating undrafted American players to their league. While the CFL shares most rules with its American counterpart, there are some major differences, perhaps none bigger than the lack of a fourth down.

“The speed of the game is different,” Bastone says. “There’s more throwing, especially compared to the Big Ten where everyone runs the ball a bunch.”

To excel as a professional, he’ll have to rely on the talent and hard work that propelled him to captain of the Northwestern Wildcats.

Bastone, who grew up in St. Charles, Illinois, and played football at St. Charles North High School, says he’d originally committed to playing college ball at Cornell but changed his mind once he was given the opportunity to join Northwestern as a walk-on.

“After talking to my family I jumped on it,” Bastone says. “They have a great walk-on culture there. After a couple years putting in work and putting my head down I was able to earn a scholarship.”

One factor in his success was adding more muscle to his 6-feet-2-inch frame. He went from 265 pounds his freshman year to his current 295 pounds. Helping a player add 30 pounds of muscle is a more common occurrence for the talented Northwestern training staff than one might think, according to Bastone.

“That’s not something crazy-unheard of,” he says of his physical transformation. “There’s a nutrition staff helping you hit those goals and there’s obviously a lot of work in the weight room.”

Throughout his time at Northwestern, Bastone strove to be a good teammate and leader.

“I have an ability to be vocal and say the harsh things sometimes to people but to be personable with it and be there all the time, not just during the good times,” Bastone says. “My consistency helped and my teammates saw that I worked hard to achieve my personal goals. I think I was inspiring to other guys who’d also walked on.”

He says he was very grateful that his teammates selected him as a captain his final two seasons and to wear the No. 1 jersey in his final season.

“I was proud of that,” Bastone says. “The brotherhood created with great guys over the years both on the staff and in the locker room, and having the complete support of the ’Cats, it was special and I created relationships to last a lifetime.”

The above article appears in the November 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

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