FLAME TECH FOOTBALL FRIDAY RUNDOWN: DUNK GIVES CFL 2021 UPDATE

Fridays are reserved for the gridiron on The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show – and we had all the latest on Episode #396! Here’s the rundown:

• Rod and Dupes got it going with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) Contract stalemates with the Argonauts, RedBlacks and their QBs, 2) Alberta and Manitoba vaccination projections will make it tough for CFL crowds this summer, 3) NFL Wildcard Weekend: We previewed the match-ups and the point spreads, 4) Jacob Markstrom allows four goals in the Flames intrasquad game (RP said the Flames won so what’s the big deal?), 5) The Jesse Puljujarvi #98 scandal in Edmonton, and 6) Steve Sarkisian stories from when the Alabama Offensive Coordinator was a quarterback with the Riders from ’97-’99.
• RP Show NFL Insider Tori Gurley joined the show for a breakdown of this weekend’s NFL games but he also delved into the issues related to the non-playoff teams, particularly the Deshaun Watson saga in Houston. Gurley feels the Texans are a mess and the big stars want out, except for J.J. Watt. Tori also discussed the future of the New England Patriots. Regarding this weekend’s games, Tori feels “The fat lady is singing for the Cleveland Browns”. Rod asked if it’s appropriate to say that anymore??
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Have you ever worn dress socks in your skates? At press time, 60% of respondents said no. Former NHL’ers Chris Dingman and Schad Richea chimed in saying the practice is commonplace.
• Hour 2 was simulcast on Game+ TV and Facebook Live. After re-upping the Quick Six, we were joined by 3DownNation CFL Insider Justin Dunk for a wide-ranging CFL chat. He discussed the news of Edmonton signing Derrel Walker and Derek Dennis and that it likely spells the end of Greg Ellingson’s time in the Alberta capital. Dunk feels Ellingson – who’s had 5 straight 1,000 yard seasons – still prefers to stay in the CFL rather than try the XFL.
• John Frenzy cut to the chase and asked Dunk if the CFL will play in 2021. Justin answered, “I feel good and I’ll preface that by saying because of the amount of guaranteed money and signing bonuses that’s being given out here, for example Mike Reilly gets $375,000 in a signing bonus along with $250,000 of the guaranteed money that he was owed. Mike Reilly’s going to get $675,000 before he even plays a down. If the Lions are going to invest that money, they must be very confident that there’s going to be a season. You can see it in a number of other places. That says to me that the CFL is legitimately working towards playing as many games as possible but until we actually get up to that point closer to the regular season, and seeing how the vaccines have been distributed across the country, where the government stands on letting fans in, then we’re not going to know. There’s been people that I’ve spoken to that say we can play the first nine games without fans and then hopefully by Labour Day when it seems to be about the timeline where everyone in Canada has access to a vaccine if they want it, then they can allow fans in from Labour Day on. I am getting more confident by the day with all the money being handed out, that there’s going to be some kind of season.”
• Friday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+, listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page, or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed.
• See you at 10 am CT Monday on Facebook Live and 12 pm ET on Game+ TV. Our guestlist includes NHL On NBC’s John Forslund and TSN NHL Insider Darren Dreger!