This week’s Insider Talk is full of discussion about non-disclosure agreements, upcoming drafts, and the direction of the Canadian Football League.
Insider Talk is an exclusive weekly feature that includes anonymous quotes from people around the CFL — players, coaches, personnel experts, and agents — regarding the latest news in the league. It’s a combination of insight, analysis, rumours, and friendly gossip.
Enjoy this week’s quotes and come back next Wednesday for another edition of Insider Talk.
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There’s no news leaking about this XFL business because the CFL’s stakeholders have all signed non-disclosure agreements and they don’t want to piss off The Rock.
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A hybrid set of rules for an XFL-CFL partnership would never work. The personnel, the schemes, the field dimensions — they’re all way too different to game plan for from week-to-week. Coaches are often working on one-year contracts. If you get your ass kicked because you’re trying to teach two systems at once, it’ll be a black mark on your resume forever. No thanks.
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The really influential guys in this league — Wade Miller, Scott Mitchell — are proud Canadians. I get that they want to maximize revenue, but I just can’t see them selling out our country and our league. I think they know better than that.
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The best thing that could come of this XFL stuff is a unified direction for the league. Teams mostly just work for themselves and some have way too much power. The league office can’t really tell Saskatchewan what to do — they’re too big. The same is true to an extent with Winnipeg and Hamilton. They run the league, not the other way around. Embracing a group mentality and working together in a unified direction is the best way to ensure we’re successful.
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One thing the NFL really has on us is roster consistency. When they turn on the TV, even casual fans know they’re going to see Ben Roethlisberger with the Steelers or Russell Wilson with the Seahawks. Lots of the players in our league switch teams every year. It’s bush league. If we change the rules to incentivize players and teams to stick together long-term, I guarantee fan interest would improve.
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That Dieter Brock news did not surprise me. There are lots of players who teams have wanted to honour over the years but can’t get across the border for legal reasons.
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(2021 CFL draft prospect) Terrell Jana had a weak pro day. That doesn’t mean he won’t be a good player, it just means he’s not going to the NFL. If you watch his film, you’ll see he could be great in our league.
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There are some really good players in the global draft but it’s not as good as the CFL thinks it is. I’d love to see a global become a star in our league. I’m just not sure it’s realistic.
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When I worked out east I was always nervous about drafting players from Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Regina. All the other cities were fine, but those west coast guys and those Saskie boys always seem to want to go home.
