Players missing say in CFL strategy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/06/2020 (1558 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In its effort to save the 2020 season, the CFL is ignoring its most valuable asset.

When the NHL started making its return-to-play plans it enlisted the help of its players, establishing a committee that convenes every two weeks and works closely with NHLPA head Donald Fehr.

It only makes sense that the two biggest stakeholders in their game be unified, no?

Meanwhile, the CFL has opted to do business much differently as they work through the COVID-19 pandemic — and its players and their main rep are tired of being left out.

After all, they’re the ones who will be putting their health and welfare on the line. Shouldn’t they have input into what comes next?

Not to mention, maybe these guys have some helpful ideas.

“I’ll tell you what we’re not trying to do is reinvent the wheel. Because it works for every major sports league out there,” Brian Ramsay, executive director of the Canadian Football League Players’ Association, told the Free Press in a phone interview on Monday. “When the NFL facilities opened up and the document was made public, whose two logos were at the top? The recent statement made by hockey, whose two logos are at the top? We’re not asking for something that hasn’t been proven to be a working model for success in pro sports.”

Ramsay’s frustration is in response to a recent interview where CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie alluded to having ongoing talks with the CFLPA as they work through a return-to-play plan amidst the coronavirus. But according to Ramsay, there has been little to no significant dialogue between the two sides.

“We’re not having those conversations — that’s the problem. And it seems like the league isn’t making decisions and when they do we’re not able to be part of those conversations,” Ramsay said. “I think what this has done is highlighted some of the weaknesses within the CFL.”

It’s just the latest instance of Ambrosie claiming to care about his players, only to turn his back on them when it really matters.

Ramsay said he understands the pressures involved in coming up with a return-to-play plan, as well as the challenges the CFL is facing in doing so. It’s for these very reasons, however, that Ramsay and many around the CFL seem so perplexed as to why the league won’t include them.

It’s as if Ambrosie doesn’t seem to realize the two sides are better off working together than apart.

“When we get phone calls from players who have been in this league for a decade and they haven’t heard from their club yet… it doesn’t sit well with the players,” Ramsay said. “It’s pushing our players away.”

A number of players, including some high-profile veterans, have taken similar steps as Ramsay, publicly calling out the league for what they feel has been a series of mistreatments in recent months.

Montreal Alouettes quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was one of the first to voice his concerns, when he tweeted at the CFL, the CFLPA and Ambrosie saying, “can we please get a set date on when a decision will be made? I got kids man.”

Others have since followed, accusing the CFL of keeping players in limbo by not committing to a drop-dead date on making a decision to play or not. And it isn’t just about determining dates and medical restrictions for a coronavirus-affected season – which is a massive task in and of itself – but also coming up with a new collective bargaining agreement for a shortened 2020 campaign that works for both sides.

The decision by the CFLPA to take its feud with the CFL public was not done lightly. The optics, especially during a time where everyone is being affected by COVID-19, are admittedly not good.

But this is something that has been frustrating the CFLPA for years; continuing to feel like a bystander is no longer going to be accepted by the players.

“I’m confident we could bring a fresh perspective and level of creativity because we want the league to grow,” Ramsay said. “That’s to everyone’s benefit and what we’re doing now is not reflective of that.”

Ramsay said the players haven’t forgotten about the league withholding offseason bonuses as a bargaining tool during CBA negotiations ahead of the 2019 season. Nor have they forgot the CFL and its penchant for implementing new rules in recent years, some that directly affect player health and safety, without ever discussing them with the players first.

What is perhaps most mindboggling, though, is how Ambrosie and the CFL have said over and over how important the players are to the league, only for its actions to suggest just the opposite.

Key issues for a new CBA this year – including compensation for a shortened season; length of training camps; contract statuses – still need to be figured out. Players also want to know that in the event the CFL opts to use a hub-city model, whether they’ll be allowed to bring their families.

Ramsay said the players often know as much as fans do when it comes to a return-to-play plan; they get updates from the same media reports.

At least that was the case when the CFL announced a return-to-train plan late last month. Ramsay wants to know why they weren’t consulted or, at the very least, given a heads up about it being released to the public.

The CFLPA hired an epidemiologist to take a look through the return-to-train plan and after identifying a few issues, none of which Ramsay felt comfortable discussing publicly, he said he passed them on to the CFL.

“Again, we haven’t heard from them,” he said.

Ramsay couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu. After all, the same thing happened in late April when the CFL was scooped in their request for money from the federal government.

As was the case with the return-to-train plan, the CFLPA had no idea the league had put together a formal proposal to the Canadian government, asking for as much as of $150 million. They had been informed the CFL was exploring the idea of requesting public money, but there was no mention of a final dollar figure or timetable for when it was going to happen.

Though not happy with the CFL and their decision to keep such a significant development under wraps, the CFLPA still felt it was important to reach out to the league to provide support in their bid for federal funds. They even hired their own government relations firm.

“They said they were starting to talk to government and we said, ‘Perfect, include us. We’ll help,’” Ramsay said. “Now you hear over the last couple days how positive and constructive the conversations are with the federal government right now and we haven’t been to one with them.”

He added: “We are certain that if the players had been included from the outset, then Canadians and the Canadian government would be much more comfortable and clear about any requests by the CFL.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton