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The Canadian Football League held its global draft on Thursday to little fanfare.
The big story was that 11 of 36 selections were kickers or punters. A few teams selected two kickers with their four picks, including the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s global vision and CFL 2.0 of taking the game beyond the borders of Canada has never been a fan favourite.
So those who roll their eyes at Ambrosie’s vision rolled their eyes as 30 per cent of the players selected Thursday were kickers.
However, when you look deeper and you see plenty of players in this draft played in the NCAA or were part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program, you should realize this draft class was far more talented than it was two years ago.
And that’s what you want to see. In 2019, it just seemed like token global players around the league were on rosters as paid internships rather than having any shot at actually playing.
It’s fair to be a skeptic of the global initiative by Ambrosie but it’s clear now, with the XFL discussions, his bosses want a market bigger than Canada. He’s just the guy who is paid to take the heat.