FORMER ESKIMOS LINEMAN STILL PROTECTING PLAYERS
Ramsay facing busy off-season as CFLPA executive director
Offensive linemen are gluttons for punishment.
So when Brian Ramsay retired from his on-field duties of blocking for teammates, he remained in the business of protecting players by joining the Canadian Football League Players Association.
After all, his 6-foot-8 frame comes with a big set of shoulders.
But at least he got to go out in style, hanging up the cleats after winning his first and only Grey Cup with the Edmonton Eskimos at Winnipeg ’s Investors Group Field in 2015, beating the Ottawa Redblacks in that team’s first appearance in the championship final.
“Obviously a memory of mine is the only (Grey Cup victory) in a player’s role that I was a part of, in Winnipeg, and the time we spent there together. That’s a fond memory,” said Ramsay, who now holds the title of CFLPA executive director.
“Coming back and seeing the familiar faces and seeing everyone in this role now, and just sort of seeing the excitement of everyone who comes to see it, whether their team’s involved or not — and it’s that much more if their team is involved — you just realize how special it is for everybody.”
But it almost wasn’t for Ramsay, who initially saw his career come to what he thought was the end of the line earlier in 2015.
“I was, unfortunately, a little nicked up in camp that year,” said Ramsay, who ended up returning home to B.C., only to be brought back into the fold when the injury bug chewed through the Eskimos offensive line.
“Thinking back to that year, I can’t remember exactly how many games I was a part of, but it was a bit of a patchwork year dealing with some injuries, but I was fortunate enough to come back that year to be on that run.”
It was a run that saw the Eskimos win 10 games in a row, culminating with a 26-20 win over Ottawa to hoist the organization’s first Grey Cup in 10 years.
“Whenever you get injured toward the end, you’re always wondering where that opportunity is going,” he said. “And to come back and be able to be part of that group that got to experience that, it’s definitely pretty special.”
His new job isn’t nearly as straightforward as his old one. No longer is there a clear opponent lined up across the line of scrimmage, but an entire football league of clubs that employ the players he and the rest of the association represent.
And they have to find a way to put it all together, which will continue to be the topic of countless conversations with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire in the off-season.
But it’s nothing Ramsay hasn’t been through before.
“I’ve been through it, as a player rep and as a younger player going through some of the earlier agreements,” said Ramsay, who was a player rep during his time with the Eskimos before being voted to the role of executive member in 2014.
It hasn’t always been pretty, and rarely ever glamorous. When the current CBA was ratified that year, the Eskimos players’ voting booth was a minivan pulled up alongside Commonwealth Stadium, since they weren’t allowed to hold the vote on club property.
“Depending on the location, we were using the resources that were available to us at the time,” Ramsay said. “One of the pieces we’ve been able to do, and I think it’s a testament to the members of the process, is that we’ve evolved to how we operate, how we communicate internally, and the twoway communication is constant.
“How we communicate during the season, or how we communicate as we prepare to go into this off-season, is much different than what it was when we were there.”
But many of the issues remain the same.
“Salary is always a topic when you get into any of these type of negotiations,” said Ramsay. “Player health and safety and rehabilitation is going to be forefront for all groups, and specifically the players.
“Obviously, with negotiations this year, it will definitely be a busy off-season.”
The CFLPA will deliver its state of the union message at 2:30 p.m. in the Westin Hotel’s Strathcona Room, following CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s state of the league address in the ballroom at 8:30 a.m.