CFL boldly bans padded practices to protect players
Lions coach isn’t sure changes were needed, but recognizes a shrewd move when he sees it
Wally Buono played in an era when chop blocks were allowed, clothesline tackles were not only legal, they were encouraged, and practice sessions were every bit as violent as games.
As such, you can understand why the 67-year-old head coach of the B.C. Lions has some reservations about the CFL’s decision to eliminate padded practices after training camp, effective immediately.
“I’ve never been a big proponent of eliminating contact because football is a contact sport,” Buono said Wednesday at the Lions’ practice facility in Surrey. “It has to be weathered to become seasoned. I believe there are more injuries in today’s football than there has been in the past.”
Without too much prompting, Buono will also tell you the Lions practise in pads 10 times during the course of an 18-game schedule. Eliminating those 10 sessions isn’t going to make a great deal of difference to the players or the teams.
But, while he might not cop to it publicly, Buono knows there are other considerations when it comes to this subject and Wednesday’s announcement was a winning gambit by new commissioner Randy Ambrosie and CFLPA president Jeff Keeping.
With their announcement, the CFL identified itself as a progressive league while acknowledging football faces significant issues when it comes to player safety and they will confront those issues head on.
Or at least give the appearance they’re confronting those issues head on.
This, after all, is mostly about optics and with participation numbers dwindling amid the perception football is ruinous to the health of its players, no league can afford to stall on this issue.
The NFL is still fighting the image that it’s a concussion-denier and doesn’t really care about the welfare of its players. The CFL, with one announcement, sided with the forces of goodness and light, which is good for the league’s image — and that makes it good for the league’s business.
“Absolutely, I think the players are going to welcome this move,” said Rolly Lumbala, the 10-year Lions veteran and the team’s rep on the players’ association. “I know it puts some stress on the coaches when they’re trying to evaluate a player. Having said that, I think this is going to help with player safety.
“I want to commend the league and the PA for showing we’re at the forefront of this and we’re here to protect the players.”
And that’s how this is going to play to the public. Never mind that, over the past decade, the CFL has made a concerted effort to minimize the wear and tear on its players. Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian recalled his first training camp with the club way back in 2010 and the changes that have been made since.
But, first, he had to be convinced the announcement was legit.
“No pads, no contact,” he repeated after he was told about the new world order. “What’s the catch?” He was assured there was no catch. “I won’t believe it until I actually see it,” he said.
When he was finally convinced he wasn’t being punked, Elimimian addressed the subject.
“Man, 2010 was the hardest training camp of my life. I’m like, if this is football I’m not sure I want to do it. We had two-a-days in full pads and contact.
“Every year there’s less and less contact in practice. The body can only take so much. We’ve come a long way.”
Buono isn’t quite as enthusiastic about Wednesday’s news but the old coach did say there was one aspect of it that appealed to him. The announcement was made jointly by Ambrosie and Keeping out of the CFL’s head office in Toronto. It’s difficult to remember a time in the CFL when the league and the players’ union did anything together, let alone something of this importance during the season, no less.
“For me, what’s more critical is the CFL office and the PA has sat down and dealt with something that’s important to both sides,” Buono said.
Ambrosie has been commissioner of the CFL just over two months and whether it’s instant replay, the Art Briles fiasco or this latest statement on player safety, he’s demonstrated a decisiveness and authority which was conspicuous by its absence before his arrival.
It’s still early days and more than one commissioner has been tripped up by the CFL’s many contradictory forces, but this new man has the look of a leader about him.
A leader with new ideas in the CFL. I know it’s crazy, but it just might work.