Frustration mounts as CFL stays silent on fate of season, Als’ Sutton says
A growing number of Canadian Football League players are becoming frustrated over the uncertainty surrounding the season possibly being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have livelihoods, we need to figure out,” Alouettes tailback Tyrell Sutton said Friday during a video conference call. “We can’t just sit around, training for the entire year while not knowing what’s going on. We’re asking for transparency. Without us, there’s no league. No season. We just want to be informed.”
A number of players this week — including Als quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and tailback James Wilder — took to social media, basically imploring commissioner Randy Ambrosie to make a decision, one way or another.
Complicating matters is the fact there’s yet another chasm developing between Ambrosie and Brian Ramsay, the players’ association executive director, on the amount of dialogue occurring between the two sides.
“It’s sort of resentment,” said Sutton, who returned to the Als last winter as a free agent following stops in British Columbia, Toronto and Hamilton. “We’re not being included in certain aspects to keep this league alive. We’re not really in a trusting position.”
Sutton admitted he would have to seek alternative employment should the season be scrapped. Although he’s married to a Canadian citizen, lives full-time in Montreal and became a father in April, Sutton’s work visa expires at the end of June, and he’s been unable to secure an open work permit.
“I’m not one of those players who has been blessed with getting multiple six-figure contracts over a 10year career,” he said.
While the career of any professional athlete generally isn’t long, Sutton realizes, at age 33, that time is of the essence. A lost season at his age could potentially have serious ramifications.
The Als, under normal circumstances, would have launched their regular season on Friday night in Calgary against the Stampeders.
“I definitely have only so many seasons left,” Sutton said. “I’m closer to the end than the beginning. I don’t know if this would have been my last one. A lot of people are in the same situation. They probably won’t get to leave their careers in the manner they want to.”
Sutton, who was raised in Akron, Ohio, is the son of a policeman. He’s been animated in discussions about the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.
Sutton, his wife and newborn son, Tyson, participated in last Sunday’s protest against police brutality toward the black community held in downtown Montreal.
The Als were well represented. Sutton was joined by team president Mario Cecchini, general manager Danny Maciocia, along with offensive linemen Tony Washington and Trey Rutherford.
It was an emotional morning for Sutton, whose mother was born in the 1960s, when the civil rights movement in the U.S. was gaining momentum.
“It was a great and bittersweet feeling,” he said. “I was just looking around in shock and awe. It was beautiful to see so many people of different ethnic backgrounds. I felt like I was looking through the lens of my mom’s eyes. I was crying, wondering what my son will see in his life?”
While Ambrosie has said the season won’t begin before September — meaning no more than eight or 10 games could be played — Sutton said that, at some point, the issue will become financially moot.
Quarterbacks, including Adams, will still receive healthy salaries, Sutton said, but others might only see $30,000.
“At what point is this $30,000 worth your livelihood? Leaving your family?” he said.
“A lot of personal opinions are going to make or break this league.”