“I liked CFL drafts better when they selected dead guys…”
Randy Chevrier wasn’t going to pull any punches when it came to the CFL’s 2021 Global Draft.
The retired long-snapper may have made his living on special teams, but even he felt the focus on the punting game on Thursday was a bit much.
“Sorry, I love the CFL and I’m not gonna hate on anyone’s opportunity to play pro however it comes. But as a league, don’t waste resources you don’t have, scouring the world for talent, having a global combine and select 4 punters in the first round…11 in four rounds?!” Chevrier said in a long Twitter thread.
“It’s a 9 team league…30.6% of your draft was a punter or kicker…what the hell?! I mean team’s philosophy is usually ‘take the best athlete available’ It’s either not saying much about the talent, or not much about the commitment of the CFL.”
The B.C. Lions selected Australian punter Jake Ford of Ouachita Baptist University first overall in the Global pick fest. He was the first of four Aussie punters drafted in the first round, joined by Joseph Zema of Incarnate Word, Cody Grace of Arkansas State and Joel Whitford of Washington.
In total, 36 players were drafted across four rounds, with 11 being kickers and punters. Chevrier believes that to be a product of CFL teams unwillingness to trust Global talent, something he sees parallels with in his own experience.
“Kuddos to Ottawa that didn’t draft a kicker or punter. I get that teams have a need. But CFL has consistently tried to ‘hide’ players it has to play in spots they are sometimes least impactful on the game…that’s a truth…,” Chevrier continued.
“Ask any Canadian that was good enough to play but was bumped because the ratio was filled. Few times in my life did I ever see teams play more Canadians than they had to. The Riders when their Canadian Air Force shined and the Als in 90s, 00s.”
CFL teams may be tentative to buy in on Globals, but most would toss Canadians out with the bathwater as well.
“Most teams unfortunately, would do away with Canadian players if they had the choice, because the belief Americans are better, which ok many cases they are, but many times they aren’t…however many can’t see past unconscious bias toward Canadian players,” Chevrier added.
“It’s also why teams select 11 kicker/punters…’what do they know about football, make the safe pick, an Aussie rules guy or a soccer dude.'”
Chevrier’s former teammate Rob Maver speculated that the Global initiative could bring about the end of Canadian punters due to the cash savings in employing a Global player. While that makes sense from a roster standpoint to a degree, it doesn’t exactly promote the brave new vision the CFL is selling, turning CFL 2.0 into CFL 2Punt0.
“I get it, it’s smart. Teams HAVE to fill 2 roster spots with a global players. Easy to grab a kicker due to Aussie Rules and Soccer kids all around the world that made the transition. No offense to any of the guys that kick but it would be like teams have a draft for a snapper,” he finished with a sly jab at himself.
“Or NHL teams creating a supplemental draft for a backup goalie…o-Kay but….meh… Like I said, congratulations to the guys drafted, dream come true! Good luck! But as a league…this was about as sexy as [Stampeders equipment manager] George Hopkins’ pasty white legs in shorts in the dead of November…”
