CFL needs to cut all the yankee riff-raft

BEN CARTER, THE GATEWAY (UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA)

EDMONTON (CUP) — While CFL fans love cheering for Canadian players such as Adam Braidwood, JR Larose, or Bob Cameron, there’s no question that American-born players dominate CFL rosters. While league requirements ensure that there will always be a large percentage of Canadians in the league, teams pack their skill positions with American players, some of whom are here by choice, others who are here because they’re without any other options.

But as an emphasis on personal character becomes more prevalent in professional sports, the CFL needs to decide if taking on troubled players — and the accompanying bad publicity — is worth it. In upcoming seasons for the CFL, as much as any other issue, developing and implementing a long-term strategy of finding players with the right skills and the right character for their teams and their league should become a priority.

While CFL players have generally avoided the type of sensationalist scandals that seem to dominate the American sports media (a CFL game-cheque doesn’t quite look the same raining down around a stripper as an NFL cheque does), the league isn’t unfamiliar with players from troubled backgrounds.

Numerous American players have made the trek north to try to shed a bad reputation and to restart a football career that may be floundering in the United States. The most famous of these players is Ricky Williams, who joined the Toronto Argonauts for the 2006 season while suspended from the NFL for repeated drug violations. During his time in Canada, Williams was a model citizen, though his season was marred by injuries. However, the situation simply did not look good for the league: drug cheat escapes to Canada. The CFL has since changed their rules and disallowed players under suspension from the NFL, perhaps learning the hard way that even the most talented of players aren’t worth the trouble.

Still, CFL clubs sign several lower profile ex-NFLers per season who leave the league under negative circumstances. These signings usually follow a particular pattern: the player is signed, speculation becomes rampant as to what extent they will dominate the league, training camp begins, negativity starts to engulf the player and the team, expectations are lowered, an injury occurs, and the player quits or is cut from the team. Who can forget Onterrio “Whizzinator” Smith’s lacklustre stay with the Blue Bombers? It’s embarrassing for the league, frustrating for its fans, and rarely successful for the teams involved.

There’s no denying that the level of skill and athleticism among NFL players is generally superior to that of those in the CFL. But as a result of the differences between the Canadian and American leagues and the nature of football itself, strict measurables aren’t an accurate indicator of quality football. More than size or a strong arm, CFL quarterbacks need to be all over the field, make the big plays when they are needed, and lead a team through difficult circumstances.

The same is true on the defensive side of the ball, where the size-speed combo so desired by NFL coaches becomes secondary to the players’ ability to keep track of the fireworks that happen in front of them in the CFL.

Contemporary professional football players are so skilled that there isn’t a lot separating the average NFL and CFL player, and the CFL merely requires a different skill set than its U.S. counterpart. Certain players have it, and others don’t.

For the Canadian league, the money and fame available in the NFL means that competing for top U.S. college players is not an option. But as CFL revenues and the overall health of the league continue to grow as they have been over the past five years, the league has an opportunity to target skilled players that are looking for the opportunity to build their career in football. Player continuity has never been a strong point for the CFL, and a new strategy and emphasis on player personnel could ensure that the league rely on its own stars playing football in Canada for the long term.