OUT OF THE TUNNEL: THE RETURN

BY RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF

Players are starting to make their way up north and heading into their 14-day quarantine (I can’t wait until we never have to use that word again) in their respective CFL cities, teams are beginning to replenish their skeleton staffs, fans are beginning to purchase their individual tickets for their game of choice and even the broadcasts are starting to come together. Everything is starting to fall into place for the August 5 launch of the CFL season.

Even with the return to a little bit of normalcy, there are many questions that are looming over the season. Here are five that come quickly to mind:

1. Who has retired? This is the one that hits the play on the field the most. Looking through the actual retired and suspension lists, it’s a who’s who of veteran CFL stars. The Ottawa Redblacks seem to have taken the biggest hit, and this is for a team that was already pegged as finishing on the bottom of the CFL East Division. Brad Sinopoli, Alex Mateas and according to 3DownNation Nolan MacMillan are all either retired or on the edge of retirement

Other names that will not play this season include the Riders Brendnn LaBatte and Takoby Cofield, Edmonton’s  Anthony Parker and Forrest Hightower, Hamilton’s  Courtney Stephen and Montreal safety Taylor Loffler. The list is even longer if one goes back a full year. even former CFL Most Outstanding Player Brandon Banks is talking out loud about not playing this season. 

With who has called it a day and those who have moved teams over the past 18 months, fans will need to really dig into their team’s website to see who is and who isn’t back. It will be also interesting to see which who will be able to adjust to all of the player movement.

2. Who adjusts quickest? Every player, vaccinated or not, will have to adhere to the same rules. It felt like this was the only way the Canadian federal government would approve a season going ahead.

Brandon Banks already expressed his hesitancy of getting vaccinated and then entering quarantine and not being able to freely move about Hamilton. It is also the main reason why Brendon LaBatte isn’t playing this year. Without having a two-tier system of vaccinated and unvaccinated players, it has had a twofold effect. Those who have vaccinated feel slighted for doing their part in helping to eliminate the COVID-19 virus and then those who were thinking whether or not to get vaccinated now won’t.

This isn’t the right way to begin the season but it’s what the CFL and the players have to work with.

3. Game shape? This is twofold beginning with a player’s actual physical shape. We will know in a hurry who stuck to their workout programs over the past 18 months and who didn’t.

The second part is who will get into “football shape” the fastest. This isn’t how good their cardio or strength is or will be but it’s the getting readjusted to the big hits and also the awkward hits that players take while in compromised positions. The early season six-game injury lists will be very interesting to watch.

4. Outbreaks. Which team will get taken down with a mass of positive COVID-19 tests first and how will the CFL handle this? It’s an incredibly condensed season without much wiggle room. 

Football is already their own wandering bubble to begin with. A season is practice for three days, head onto the plane as a group, into the hotel as a group, to the stadium as a group and then return home together. It’s a monotonous grind to begin with and now exacerbated with this adjusted quarantine. 

Hopefully this is enough but if one or two teams get taken down for an extended period of time it will mean either a shortened regular season or something even more drastic.

5. Fans. Will the fans return to the park and to their screens to watch the games? It has been a long time that the CFL has had any mark on the Canadian sports landscape and it will take a lot of work to get back into a fan’s daily life.

The CFL already had an attendance problem and the return could either be triumphant or even more despondent than before. There are fans that are on the edge of their seats to get back to the stadiums and then there are still those that are still so nervous to return and be around 25-thousand people.

Let’s get back to something that feels normal and when we do it please respect each other’s space and personal adjustments to returning to normal. If one does or doesn’t wear a mask when returning to the stadiums, please respect their choice. We all need to support each other no matter what side of the fence we sit politically. If someone is uncomfortable being back, give them a little space (physically and if not, emotionally) we need to be all in this together to help the CFL have a wonderful return to play. 

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All of football is coming back to the field over the next few months. The CFL in four weeks, the NFL and NCAA in late-August and early September and now the rest of Canadian amateur football is ready to play again.

The Canada West is back on September 25 with a six-game schedule, OUA kicks off their six-game schedule on September 18, the RSEQ starts on August 28 with an eight game schedule and the AUS has a six game schedule that begins on September 18. The 2021 Vanier Cup is scheduled for December 4 in Quebec City.

Elsewhere the PFC has a full eight game schedule beginning on August 8 with nothing yet to report from the BCFC and the Ontario Football Conference

(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF)