State of AL well represented in CFL, including Tide/Tuscaloosa

July 8, 4:51 PMAlabama Crimson Tide ExaminerVince Ferrara

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The CFL has players with ties to the state of Alabama on all eight teams in the league to start the 2009 season. There are former Alabama Crimson Tide football players, Auburn Tigers, UAB Blazers, Stillman Tigers, Samford Bulldogs, Jacksonville State Gamecocks, Tuscaloosa natives, state of Alabama natives, brothers of current Crimson Tide players and more.

Plus, there are coaches north of the border with state of Alabama connections as well. I’ve researched it all for you and compiled it below. I’ve also listed some recent former SEC college football players on current Canadian Football League rosters that you may recognize. After the player listings will be my opinion on what would make the CFL a much better product and what the NFL has to do with that.

State of Alabama Connections in the CFL in 2009
Juwan Simpson (#48) – (DE) Calgary Stampeders
Played OLB for the Alabama Crimson Tide (’03 – ’06)
From Decatur, AL (Austin HS)
Started his final 3 years (’04 – ’06) *Defensive captain his Sr. year
Alabama career – 24 starts/45 games/230 tackles
6’3, 225 lbs/25 years old
Spent time in Green Bay Packers camp in ‘07
2nd year in the CFL, both with Calgary
Won the Grey Cup as a rookie in 2008 (5 tackles – 3 on def. & 2 on sp. teams)
CFL Career – 22 tackles/1 sack
Starting LDE
’09 Season Opener – 2 tackles

Titus Ryan (#83) – (WR) Calgary Stampeders
From Tuscaloosa, AL (Tuscaloosa County HS)
Played for Concordia College – Selma/East Central CC
First ever Concordia player to sign with an NFL team
Spent time in Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints & Carolina Panthers camps
Rookie in the CFL
6’0, 190 lbs/25 years old
Backup WR
’09 season opener – 3 catches for 44yds

LeMarcus Rowell (#19) – (LB) Calgary Stampeders
Played for the Jacksonville St. Gamecocks
Born in Opelika, AL (Opelika HS)
2nd year in CFL
6’2, 231 lbs/26 years old
CFL Career – 2 tackles/1 INT
Was listed as starting MLB on depth chart going into camp
Now on 9-game injured list

Tray Blackmon (#30) – (LB) Calgary Stampeders
Played for the Auburn Tigers
Rookie in CFL
6’0, 220 lbs/23 years old
Starting MLB, playing on same defense with college rival Juwan Simpson
’09 season opener – team high 7 tackles

Jermaine McElveen (#98) – (DE) Montreal Allouettes
Played for the UAB Blazers
6’4, 250 lbs/24 years old
2nd year in CFL
CFL career – 18 tackles/6 sacks/1 INT/2 FR
Backup LDE
’09 season opener – 1 tackle

Damon Duval (#15) – (K) Montreal Allouettes
Played for the Auburn Tigers
6’0, 197 lbs/29 years old
5th year in CFL
CFL career – 79.5 % in FGs/197 of 198 in PATs
Starting P & K
’09 season opener – 6 for 6 in FGs/2 for 2 in PATs/2 singles/2 punts for 43.5 avg/2 fumbles

Chris Nickson (#72) – (WR) Montreal Allouettes
Born in Brundidge, AL (Pike County HS)
HS Teammate of former Alabama TE Nick Walker
Played QB for the Vanderbilt Commodores
6’1, 212 lbs/23 years old
Rookie in CFL (Just signed June 10)
’09 season opener – not on active roster

Willie Quinnie (#0) – (WR) Hamilton Tiger Cats
Played for the UAB Blazers
Born in Theodore, AL (Theodore HS)
6’2, 180 lbs/28 years old
2nd year in CFL (’06 with Hamilton)
CFL career – 2 rec for 38 yds
Now on 9-game injured list

Prechae Rodriguez (#85) – (WR) Hamilton Tiger Cats
Played for the Auburn Tigers
6’5, 208 lbs/24 years old
2nd year in CFL
CFL career – 70 rec for 1,099 yds, 15.7 avg/Longest 86 yds/7 TDs
Starting WR
’09 season opener – 7 rec for 55 yds/1 TD

Tre Smith (#32) – (RB) Hamilton Tiger Cats
Played for the Auburn Tigers
5’11, 195 lbs/25 years old
2nd year in CFL
CFL career – 65 car for 430 yds, 6.6 avg/2 TDs/6 fumbles/12 rec for 123 yds, 10.3 avg
Backup RB & Primary KR & PR
’09 season opener – 1 rec for 4yds/3 KOR for 79 yds, 26.3 avg

Nautyn McKay-Loescher (#91) – (DE) BC Lions
Played DE for the Alabama Crimson Tide (’00 – ‘03)
Started 16 games at UA
Alabama career - 47 games/77 tackles/12.5 tackles
6’2, 260 lbs/27 years old
Spent time in Indianapolis Colts camp in ‘04
From Toronto, so he is a non-import
6th year in CFL, second stint with BC, also played two years for Hamilton
CFL career – 40 tackles/22 sacks
Backup Weakside DE
’09 season opener – 1 tackle

Zac Champion (#12) – (QB) BC Lions
Born in Birmingham, AL (Bessemer Academy)
Played for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
6’2, 200 lbs/25 years old
2nd year in CFL, both with BC
CFL career – 1 game/2 for 3/1 TD pass/19 yd run
Now on 9-game injured list

James Patrick (#14) – (S) Saskatchewan Roughriders
Played for the Stillman Tigers in Tuscaloosa
From Tuskegee, AL (Booker T. Washington HS)
5’11, 175/27 years old
2nd year in CFL, both with Saskatchewan
CFL career – 11 tackles/3 INTs/2 FR
Starting S
’09 season opener – 2 tackles/1 INT

Denatay Heard (#21) – (CB) Saskatchewan Roughriders
Played for the Stillman Tigers in Tuscaloosa
5’9, 169 lbs/25 years old
2nd year in CFL
CFL career – 7 tackles/1 INT
Now on 9-game injured list

Bobby Keyes (#35) – (CB) Edmonton Eskimos
Played for the UAB Blazers
6’0, 186 lbs/26 years old
Rookie in CFL
Starting CB
’09 season opener – 8 tackles

Efrem Hill (#80) – (WR) Edmonton Eskimos
Played for the Samford Bulldogs
From Fort Payne, AL
6’1, 185 lbs/26 years old
Rookie in CFL
’09 season opener - not on active roster

Jason English (#84) – (WR) Toronto Argonauts
Played for the Tuskegee Golden Tigers
Born in Mobile, AL (Murphy HS)
5’11, 202 lbs/23 years old
Rookie in CFL
On Practice squad

Adarius Bowman (#12) – (WR) Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Older brother of Alabama true freshman WR Michael Bowman
Played for the Oklahoma St. Cowboys
6’4, 220 lbs/24 years old
2nd year in CFL (Saskatchewan in ’08)
CFL career – 23 rec for 358 yds, 15.6 avg/3 TDs
Backup WR
’09 opener – 5 rec for 56 yds

Notable recent SEC football players in the CFL currently
Chris Leak (QB – Montreal) Florida Gators
Ciatrick Fason (RB – Edmonton) Florida Gators
Terrence Edwards (WR – Winnipeg) Georgia Bulldogs
Jonathan Hefney (DB – Winnipeg) Tennessee Volunteers
Demonte Bolden (DL – Hamilton) Tennessee Volunteers
Albert Toeaina (OL – Hamilton) Tennessee Volunteers
Jonathan Brown (DE – Toronto) Tennessee Volunteers
Samuel Joseph (CB – Toronto) LSU Tigers
Daniel Francis (S – Saskatchewan) LSU Tigers
*Note these aren’t all the SEC players in the CFL, just some notable ones on current rosters

Coaches with connections to Alabama on current CFL staffs
Chris Jones (Calgary CD/Player Personnel Asst Dir) 8th in CFL, 2nd with Calgary
-Graduate Assistant at U. of Alabama in ‘97 & former coach at North Jackson HS in Stevenson, AL

Trust me, I know where the CFL falls in the American sports fan landscape. I love watching it because it’s football and overall pretty well played. I’ve enjoyed it since I was a little kid watching Warren Moon and the Edmonton Eskimos. Many CFL players have gone on to play in the NFL including Moon, Doug Flutie, Joe Thiesman, Jeff Garcia, David Archer, Ricky Williams and many others. I watch it and I’d love to see US football fans watch it more.

The CFL can get better. If the league would improve some of its rules (i.e. only 3 downs to gain 10 yards and a first down, kicking for one point called a ‘single’, 12 players per side, allowing forward motion on offense, etc.,) it would make a huge difference. Actually, I wish all the CFL rules were like the NFL but I would take just changing the downs to four for a first down.

This one rule alone offsets everything else the CFL does to allegedly encourage offense. Most of the rules are meaningless masqueraded points (lots of singles and safeties) to boost the scoreboard and give people the impression that there’s a lot of scoring and offense and thus excitement.

CFL games averaged 56.2 points per game in 2008. There’s not a lot of sustained offense in that, there’s a lot of sustained punting. In week one last weekend, Edmonton and Winnipeg painfully combined for 25 punts. Many of those were two-and-outs. All of this is caused by the stupid three down rule.

Think about it. Teams, in essence, have only two downs to gain ten yards. If you run on first down, unless you gain 8 or 9 yards, you’re still in a passing situation on second down. If you pass on first down, once again, unless you gain 8 or 9 yards, you’re still in a passing situation on second down. If you don’t want to risk a second-and-long, you don’t run on first down. Thus, many teams don’t bother running the ball on first down. Then, everyone passes on second down. In the 2008 season, only seven running backs in the entire league rushed for more than 600 yards. 600 yards in 4 or 5 games for the top backs in the NFL.

So, what have we figured out? There’s limited use of the running game, there’s no offensive balance and the offenses are predictable. Again, the main culprit of this is the three down rule. It would help the offenses immensely if they had four downs to pick up a first down. The offenses would be on the field longer and they’d have a chance to get into a rhythm and flow. We’d see longer drives, better quality of play and a lot less of each team’s punter. Those are all positive steps to making the CFL a better product.

The rules won’t change, however, because that would be Americanizing something with Canadian tradition. Just because you’ve always done something one way, does that mean it’s the best way? Nope. Swallow your pride Canada. Make your league a developmental league for the NFL. I know, I know, Canada will never want to be a minor league for anything from the USA. That’s ridiculous for Canada to think but it’s clearly reality. Adjusting a couple of rules and working with the NFL would be a huge positive for both leagues. The NFL would benefit from a developmental league now that NFL Europa is gone.

I’m not saying bringing CFL teams back to the states. Nope. That failed once and no one needs that again. However, standardizing a few rules and aligning yourself with the NFL can only help the CFL. You keep your game. The NFL sends you some players they like but aren’t ready. You develop them. The NFL helps you market and promote your games because they have a vested interest. You make a lot more money. The NFL continues to improve its product. The fans of both leagues see better players and a better, more consistent game. That would be a win-win with an open mind.

Why can’t sports get it right? A college football playoff, MLB’s all-star game rules, an NFL rookie salary cap and now a fix for the CFL. Your league and sport can get better. It’s not that hard to figure out. Stubbornness stunts success and stardom!

So, the next time you hear about the CFL or see it on TV, stop and give it a look. You can find CFL games on TV on many Fox Sports regional network stations. They do a live game on Friday nights and numerous replays throughout the week. Set your DVRs at least.

You may recognize some players. You may also, like me, nibble on the football snack known as the CFL while we starve for college football and the NFL to start in early September. The NFL preseason starts August 9. The college football season begins September 3. The NFL regular season gets underway September 10.

I’d love to get your feedback. Leave a comment down below or e-mail me at vincef8@gmail.com. Please sign up for the email alerts for my new postings. Forward my work to friends or anyone you know who might be interested. Link it, share it, recommend it, anything like that would be great support of my page and work. I really appreciate you doing it. Thanks to the official CFL website (www.cfl.ca) for helping with many of the facts in the story. <a name="1554163746"></a>