Recruit more Canadians if CFL wants bailout
If league can ask for federal bailout funds, it can hike number of homegrown players
At a time when the CFL is trying to avoid the poorhouse, commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s argument comes across as a little rich.
Ambrosie has asked the federal government for up to $150 million in assistance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could very well ashcan the 2020 season.
Last week in this space, it was written that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and friends should, in fact, allocate funds to help preserve the national treasure that is Canadian professional football.
The one lingering objection, though, pertains to the league’s disinclination to showcase Canadian players — a mindset that doesn’t strengthen the case for emergency support from the government.
This is a league, after all, that — in collaboration with the CFL Players’ Association — has created a forehead-slapping situation whereby only 30 per cent of the starters are actually Canadian.
CFL rules allow for 17 of the 24 offensive or defensive starters to hail from the United States.
Of the seven Canadian starters, at least three are offensive linemen. Add another Canadian at safety and along the defensive line, in many cases. That leaves two token national spots to fill.
In other words, Canadians are outnumbered at the high-profile positions such as running back and receiver.
If a homebrew does crack the receiving corps, he can be relegated to the position of wideside wideout — lined up in a different postal code, and hardly a prime target.
Last season, only one Canadian was among the league’s top 20 in receiving yardage. Lemar Durant of the B.C. Lions piled up 810 yards, good enough for 17th overall.
A notable outlier was Winnipeg Blue Bombers tailback Andrew Harris, who amassed a league-high 1,380 rushing yards in 2019.
After Harris, the total for rushing yards by a Canadian was 242, registered by his backup. Johnny Augustine finished 19th among the league’s rushers.
As for Canadian quarterbacks, well, fans have been waiting more than half a century for the next Russ Jackson.
Will that be Nathan Rourke? On Thursday, the Lions selected Rourke in the second round (15th overall) of the CFL draft.
A year earlier, the Toronto Argonauts had chosen another Canadian passer, Michael O’connor, in the third round (20th overall).
Kudos to both teams for making those picks, but …
BUT …!
Seventy-three players were selected over eight rounds on Thursday. Not one of those draftees happened to be University of Calgary Dinos quarterback Adam Sinagra, who is merely one of the premier players in the history of Canadian college football.
In 2018, Sinagra won the Hec Crighton Trophy — awarded annually to the top football player in U Sports — after throwing for 3,223 yards (a national single season record) and 23 touchdowns in eight games.
Sinagra followed up in 2019 by guiding the Dinos to a Vanier Cup title. He was named the championship game’s most valuable player after completing 22 of 28 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-13 victory over the University of Montreal Carabins.
Despite the aforementioned accomplishments, Sinagra was bypassed on Thursday.
How does that happen in the so-called Canadian Football League?
Oh, sure, Sinagra has signed with the Montreal Alouettes as an undrafted free agent, according to the always reliable 3Downnation.com.
Even so, the draft day snub of Sinagra raised eyebrows, especially since it directly followed the commissioner’s plea.
However, the example of Sinagra is hardly surprising.
The sad, inescapable reality is that many CFL coaches and general managers view Canadians as a necessarily evil — an obligation. (Notable exceptions: Brendan Taman, Eric Tillman.)
Teams are forced to dress a certain number of Canadians, and start seven, so there is begrudging compliance.
The specious argument is heard and believed all too often: There aren’t enough quality Canadians to satisfactorily stock the rosters.
Last year at this time, there were even whispers about reducing the minimum number of Canadian starters to five or six.
The reality is this: The Canadian talent pool is just fine, thank you.
Outside of our home and native land, numerous Canadians are honing their skills at American colleges. Of course, some of them are proceeding to the NFL, but the CFL also reaps the benefits of NCAA training.
At the same time, the NFL is increasing the size of its practice rosters, along with the compensation given to the understudies. Therefore, it’s reasonable to expect that some players who would ordinarily trek northward will remain in the U.S.A., reducing the calibre of imports.
With that in mind, this is an opportune time to stand up for Canadian players — and not just the 6-foot-5, 320-pound behemoths who populate the offensive lines.
It would be nice to see another Andrew Harris, another Jon Cornish.
Another Whit Tucker. Ron Stewart. Terry Evanshen. Jim Young. Tony Gabriel. Rocky Dipietro. Joe Poplawski. Ray Elgaard. Jeff Fairholm. Jason Clermont. Andy Fantuz. Chris Getzlaf. Brad Sinopoli.
The intent here isn’t to disparage American-born players. Where would the Roughriders be, for example, without Glenn Dobbs, Ron Lancaster, George Reed, Hugh Campbell, Ed Mcquarters, Joey Walters, Kent Austin, Bobby Jurasin, Don Narcisse, Henry Burris, Kerry Joseph, Darian Durant, Weston Dressler or Cody Fajardo?
But it’s not imperative to reserve 17 starting spots for Americans, a handful of whom are virtually guaranteed to be marginal. (Honestly, some of the worst Roughriders players I have ever seen have been American!)
A preferable policy would be for the CFL to stand on guard for Canadian players by creating an even playing field — 12 Canadian starters, to go with 12 Americans.
“I’d make Ambrosie put more Canadians on the roster,” Michael Ball said on his most recent Growing The Game podcast. “I know some of you are like, ‘Oh, we can’t do that,’ but that’s our problem. We don’t support our own. We automatically think we’re not that good.
“Yes, there are a lot of great American football players. There are more great American football players. We can’t compete with that juggernaut south of the border, just in terms of numbers and money, so that’s why we’ve got to protect our own.”
Especially at a time when the CFL is lobbying for protection in the form of government money.
In return, it should be made very clear — to Ambrosie and assorted underlings — that the “C” in “CFL” stands for “Canadian.”