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It didn't come with candles, but participating in his first professional football camp is about the best birthday present he could ask for.
Edmonton's Kevin Wuthrich attended his second day of rookie camp with the Edmonton Eskimos at Clarke Park yesterday, which marked a special occasion on the calendar.
"It's my birthday, 21. Nobody found out about that just yet," Wuthrich said following morning practice.
"We'll keep that on the down-low."
It's a good thing, too, considering the size of his fellow recruits who would have been charged with the task of doling out birthday bumps. In the football world, his five-foot-10, 167-pound frame is easily dwarfed.
But judge him by his size alone and the speedy receiver would likely burn his way onto the scoreboard.
A three-year starter with the CJFL's Edmonton Wildcats, Wuthrich's junior resume comes complete with 96 receptions for 1,655 yards and eight touchdowns.
No stranger to special teams, he scrambled up 344 yards and a touchdown on 41 punt returns -- three of which ate up 30 yards. Last year, he led the Wildcats with 45 receptions for 843 yards and five touchdowns on his way to being named team MVP.
"I call him Tuck Jr.," Eskimos GM Danny Maciocia said of Wuthrich's new branding that eludes to Eskimos receivers coach and former go-to player Jason Tucker.
"The last couple days, he's made every catch, and every opportunity he had to snare the ball, he was able to do so. It's just a question now of trying to get Kevin to hit the weight room and making him a little bit stronger so he can possibly, at some point in time, compete on this stage."
Wuthrich, who was born in Bern, Switzerland, and grew up in the Bahamas before moving to Sherwood Park to play for the Bev Facey Falcons, has come in with the mentality that he's competing for a roster spot.
If that doesn't happen right away, he knows he still has two years of eligibility left with the Wildcats to hone his skills -- which is something he said is already happening at the rookie camp.
"The first two days, it's been a great experience. The coaches are really teaching me a lot in this league," he said.
"I'm learning how to play fast but play smart at the same time. It's going well. What happens, happens."