CFL players preparing for the worst

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/05/2020 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The B.C. Lions made sure to count every last penny when announcing a new contract for free-agent quarterback Mike Reilly ahead of the 2019 Canadian Football League season.

Reilly, who had emerged as one of the league’s biggest stars over his six seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos, generated major headlines when he signed a new deal totalling $2.9 million over four years, making him the highest-paid player in the CFL.

The decision to announce specific details of the contract was viewed by those who keep a close eye on the CFL as a curious move, if only because the league, as a rule, doesn’t make contracts public. But there was a motive behind revealing Reilly’s money: to show casual observers and those who cared little about the league that, in fact, the CFL was the real deal, able to afford big payouts.

But that’s certainly misleading. For every Reilly there are many more players making much less. In fact, according to Brian Ramsay, executive director of the CFL’s players union, half of the more than 500 players that suited up in 2019 made around the league’s minimum salary, which was $56,000. Thanks to a new collective bargaining agreement singed ahead of last season, that number has since jumped to $65,000 in 2020, assuming there’s a season.

Given the high number of players making modest salaries, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unstable ground for many in the CFL. And with the 2020 season hanging by a thread, many are trying to do their best to navigate through unchartered waters.

That includes Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback John Rush. But don’t think Rush, who has been making around the league minimum since cracking the Bombers’ roster in 2017, is looking for pity. What he really wants — and why he’s been so vocal about it on his Twitter account, @JohnRush32 — is for people to understand that a majority of players in the CFL aren’t much different than those watching them in the stands.

It’s why he gets so disappointed when he sees people online disparaging the league and its membership, claiming CFL athletes shouldn’t receive public assistance from the government because “they’re all millionaires.”

“It really upsets me when people don’t understand a full story and decide to comment on it. A lot of the people commenting make more than us,” Rush told the Free Press in a phone interview earlier this week.

“We all pay our taxes the same exact way all other Canadians do. It’s not like we’re getting tax sheltered. I’m not living in some mansion in Tuxedo or on Wellington Crescent.”

Rush hopes the CFL will have a season this year.

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has said many times in recent weeks that the board of governors are listening intently to medical professionals and are working diligently to plan for “as much football to be played as possible.” The best-case scenario would be for a mid-September start, though fans would likely not be permitted to attend, further complicating things for a gate-driven league.

What’s most likely at this point is the season will be lost. For those making modest salaries, the fear of a completely wiped out campaign is even more real.

The CFL’s recent request for money from the federal government — $30 million of immediate aid and a total of $150 million for a lost season — isn’t expected to directly benefit the players. In the event the CFL loses the season, whatever money is handed out from the government would be divided into shares distributed evenly to each of the nine teams and the league office.

“We all pay our taxes the same exact way all other Canadians do. It’s not like we’re getting tax sheltered. I’m not living in some mansion in Tuxedo or on Wellington Crescent.”
– Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback John Rush

Individual teams, including the Bombers, have applied for the federal government’s wage-subsidy program, which pays 75 per cent of salaries over 12 weeks and expires on June 1. But that’s capped at the first $58,000 of an individual’s salary and is limited to full-time employees — not players, who are technically contract workers.

Players, both from Canada and elsewhere, are being encouraged to apply for other government programs, including employment insurance, and, if eligible, for support from the Canadian Emergency Relief Fund. Some players have already applied and received cheques. Those relying on EI will need to wait until mid-May, when training camps were supposed to start, as an official date of being out work before they are eligible.

At first glance, the idea of a professional athlete receiving financial assistance from the government seems odd. But upon closer evaluation, it’s far from unreasonable and, during a pandemic, even necessary.

“Our members pay into EI — American or Canadian — so it’s less about nationality and more about whether you’ve made the contributions, have the certain amount of hours (600 per year),” said Ramsay.

“Our members pay into EI– American or Canadian — so it’s less about nationality and more about whether you’ve made the contributions, have the certain amount of hours (600 per year).”
– Brian Ramsay, executive director of the CFL’s players union

“It isn’t just as easy to say to players to put everything down and go find work, which is tough to do right now anyway. These guys want to work.”

Rush works at Scotiabank as a financial adviser, a job he started only a few months ago after winning the Grey Cup in November. Had he not recently received a promotion, he, too would have considered applying for government aid.

The reason he has a job, Rush said, is because after three years in the CFL, he finally feels confident enough to add it to an off-season already filled with his regular workout regimen. But he’s also single and has no kids, which frees him up more than some players. Rush estimates more than half the guys in the Bombers’ locker room have kids.

“It’s not easy when they have other dependents in their life, other things going on and then have to stay fit on top of that,” he said, noting workouts can often last three or four hours. “I have complete empathy for guys like that. And then there are the guys that are now on CERB with a wife and kids. They were expecting their football money and didn’t get a job because they were relying on the CFL only for a global pandemic to happen. That’s tough. It’s not a great situation to be in.”

Chris Ackie, a 28-year-old Canadian linebacker with the Toronto Argonauts, said he recently applied for CERB. He admitted it wasn’t ideal but neither is the pandemic. He has yet to hear back or receive any money.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about in the CFLPA meeting, for players to start applying for it. I did apply for it and I think it’s something every player should,” Ackie, a six-year CFL veteran, said in a phone interview from his Kitchener home. “We pay a lot of money into EI throughout the season, throughout the years we’ve been in the league, and, especially during this time, we should use it.”

The CERB payments are a maximum of $1,000 per person every two weeks.

Ackie isn’t just sitting at home waiting for a cheque, either. He recently wrapped up the football program he helps put on for disadvantaged youth and plans to make up for other charitable events he’s been forced to postpone. In fact, he spends most of his days working out and studying for his securities exams, sometimes for seven or eight hours a day.

He also doesn’t plan to stay unemployed for long, whether football returns soon or not.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the CFL. What if we go bankrupt or what if we don’t recover from this?” Ackie said. “I want to have all the tools and I’m working hard to have my life set up so that when I leave the game I leave on my own terms. We’re not going to retire off the money we make.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton