Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
My original plan was to write about the two Labour Day games. Considering all the storylines, it seemed like a good idea at the time. The Argonauts were desperate for a win while Hamilton was looking for revenge after their Week #1 thrashing at the hands of Toronto. Speaking of redemption, you know that Calgary had to be replaying the last moments of their classic 38-35 heart breaking loss to Edmonton.
So what happened?
Well I sacrificed one of the few nice summer days to watch some ugly football. Beyond the comedy of finding out that Toronto carried two non-import kickers there was very little entertainment on Labour Day Monday.
However there was one compelling storyline that had little to do with any game played this past weekend and that is: Why are there no Canadian born quarterbacks starting in the CFL?
Russ Jackson was in the TSN booth with Rod Black and Duane Forde discussing this topic while the Argonauts were squandering great field position after an Andre Durie kickoff return. I hadn’t thought about it for years, but the fact remains that this country hasn’t produced a starting CFL quarterback since 1995 when Larry Jusdanis suited up for the Tiger-Cats.
So the question is why?
Tommy Denison was the last Canadian quarterback to dress in a CFL game, in 2004 as the third string QB for the Calgary Stampeders. In a preseason game with Winnipeg that season Denison completed 4 of 6 passes for 46 yards in one quarter of duty.
During his CIS career, Denison recorded a record 3,001 yards passing in a single season in 2002. His 203 completions in 2003 also established a new CIS mark.
As someone who covered the McMaster Marauders for seven seasons I have witnessed countless OUA and CIS football games and had the privilege of watching some pretty good quarterbacks do battle. Two guys in particular come to mind, the 2001 and 2002-03 Hec Crighton Trophy winners, Ben Chapdelaine and Tommy Denison respectively.
Both guys were winners on the field with excellent accuracy and knew how to avoid the rush. Their arm strength was certainly good enough when you consider that guys like Stefan LeFors and Cody Pickett are currently drawing a salary and both players were big enough and durable enough to take the pounding of an 18 game schedule.
Of the two, Tommy had the best shot of sticking around; to be fair Chapdelaine’s fastball just didn’t have enough heat for the Canadian game.
One of the main problems for Canadian quarterbacks, according to Denison, is the Canadian quota system does not benefit quarterbacks and by that I mean it doesn’t help at all because it doesn’t exist. Carrying a Canadian player at quarterback does not count towards a team’s Canadian ratio.
I should say that I had no idea about this rule until I spoke with Tommy and I’m still trying to figure out the logic behind it. My best guess is the league is concerned teams would try to take advantage of the system by “stashing” an extra Canadian on the roster and listing him as the #3 QB.
Whatever the case, this reality puts the Canadian Quarterback at a major disadvantage. At every other position the Canadian player benefits from the quote except at the most important position on the field. What incentive is there for teams to employ a Canadian quarterback if there are no auxiliary benefits to the team’s ratio?
Beyond the quota problem, the main reason for a complete lack of Can-Con is coaching. There simply are not enough good coaches of the passing game at the university and especially at the high school level.
How can any quarterback born and raised in Canada compete with the American football player? They are taught at a young age the fundamentals of the position, in many high schools they are playing at higher levels than many Canadian universities and by the time they hit the NCAA American quarterbacks are often exposed to spread offenses that dominate the Canadian game.
Physically the main attribute that separates us from the States is arm strength. With the exception of Denison most Canadian quarterbacks don’t have the arm to make all the necessary throws.
Mike Hogan from the FAN 590 (just a crazy, encyclopedic knowledge of the Canadian game at every level) related a story of how Stanley Jackson could merely lob passes with a velocity stronger than any recent Canadian grad. Keep in mind that Jackson was a bust in the CFL and yet physically he was better prepared than any player from the CIS.
Now all is not lost. Denison was optimistic that we aren’t as far away as it seems. If the CFL was smart they would investigate changing the import rule to include quarterbacks as part of the ratio. This would at least start the impetus for teams to draft and develop talented Canadian college passers.
That’s the easy part.
The tough part will be building up our football infrastructure in the country from the grass roots on up. We need more coaches to teach a 15-year-old what it means to play the position. We need universities to embrace the shotgun formation and the spread offense.
The CIS needs to do a better job creating CFL ready quarterbacks. They already do an unbelievable job at every other position, now it is time for Canada as a whole to step up and put one of our own under centre and step back to the days of Russ Jackson.
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