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Part of receiver Austin Collie’s value to the B.C. Lions is that he’s Canadian. The irony is that, last year at this time, he wasn’t Canadian...at least not in the eyes of the CFL. His citizenship hasn’t changed. In fact, the five-year NFL veteran has been a Canadian citizen since November 11, 1985 – the day he was born in Hamilton, where his father Scott was an import receiver for the Tiger-Cats. What changed was the CFL’s - or, more accurately, the CFL Players Association’s - view of what qualifies a professional football player as a Canadian or national (formerly non-import.) Until the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement last June, getting the approval of the CFLPA had always represented the biggest obstacle preventing the CFL from making the terms “Canadian” and “Non-import” synonymous. Here’s a brief history lesson to explain. Many of those who followed the intricacies of last spring’s intense CBA negotiations noted the fact that all of the members of the CFLPA executive had two things in common. First of all, Scott Flory, Jeff Keeping, Brian Ramsay, Marwan Hage and Jay McNeil were all offensive linemen. Second, and most relevant, they were all Canadian. The strongest voices in the PA have always been Canadian and, as such, protecting the jobs of Canadian players has always been a very high priority. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a strong believer that maintaining a high level of Canadian content is critical to the survival of Our League. The issue was that, for many years, the PA chose to protect those non-import jobs by militantly limiting the pool of players who were eligible to compete for them...and the CFL effectively granted them the power to do so. To be fair, the league was by no means innocent in all of this, as the hardline stance of the PA was a direct response to a trend towards member clubs exploiting loopholes in both the standards and the process for qualifying a player as a non-import. In any case, the new rules, under which a player’s classification is based primarily on his citizenship at the time he enters the CFL (rather than time of residency or first exposure to organized football), represent, by far, the most logical and most easily regulated system the league has ever employed. As for Austin Collie, he is one of a number of Canadian football players who saw his CFL status change from import (now international) to national under the new CBA and he becomes the first of those players to enter the CFL. Other imports-turned-nationals whose names you may recognize include recently retired NFL receiver Nate Burleson, veteran NFL linebacker Jamaal Westerman, Detroit Lions rookie receiver T.J. Jones, and San Francisco 49ers long snapper Kyle Nelson. Burleson, Jones and Nelson are all sons of former CFL players, while Westerman’s younger brother, Jabar, is a defensive tackle for the Lions. Other players, like current NFLers Colin Cole (DT, Carolina Panthers), Orlando Franklin (OL, Denver Broncos) and John Urschel (OG, Baltimore Ravens) have always met the non-import qualifying standards, but didn’t have that status simply because they never submitted an application. Now, because their Canadian citizenship is common knowledge, they are considered nationals without being required to endure that process. All of these players are eligible to enter the Canadian Football League as free agents. They can neither be placed on negotiation lists, nor drafted. Any new qualifiers who have not yet completed their college eligibility will be entered in their regularly scheduled draft class. In 2015, the most notable, among no fewer than four such players, should be highly regarded Idaho defensive lineman Maxx Forde, who is the son of former NFL and CFL linebacker Brian Forde (no relation to me.) As one who has studied the topic extensively and lobbied the CFL and CFLPA for nearly a decade to adjust the standards to make the terms Non-Import and Canadian more synonymous, Im ecstatic about the rule change. This league requires a strong pool of Canadian talent, particularly with the recent expansion to nine teams and the hope of soon reaching 10. Yes, Canada is producing more and better football players than it ever has, but that’s being neutralized by the NFL’s ever-increasing awareness of the Great White North as a talent source. Frankly, the Canadian talent pool also takes a hit because some top prospects forgo CFL careers to pursue more lucrative job options. That’s just a reality of the CFL. In any case, based on evidence gathered over the last decade, the tangible impact of this rule change is that it will add an average of about three NCAA Division I players to every CFL draft class. Having played American college football by no means guarantees that a Canadian will succeed in Our League, but when I look at the list of players who would have qualified as nationals had these regulations been in place in past years, I can confidently state that the rule change will at least offset part of the loss of prospects to the NFL. An interesting footnote to this story is that, had the Canadian Football League and its Players Association implemented the current criteria for a player to qualify as a national 20 years earlier, several Hollywood movies might have looked very different. Most CFL fans know that pro wrestler turned actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson was a member of the Calgary Stampeders in 1995. However, what you may not have realized is that Johnson, who played in the CFL as an import, would today qualify as a national because he is a Canadian citizen by birth. As an Import, Johnson struggled to crack the lineup of the CFLs most dominant team of the era and, thus, rather quickly gave up football in favour of other pursuits. However, as a non-import, he wouldve been a coveted talent and likely first-overall pick in the 95 draft, and thus wouldve been granted ample opportunity to develop as a CFL player. Despite his newfound national status, The Rock is never (...and when I say never, I mean never, EVER!) coming back to play in the Canadian Football League...but the hope is that Austin Collie is just the first of many previously excluded Canadians who will take advantage of this opportunity. Yeezy Wholesale Authentic . 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Assistant coach Glen Gulutzan said Thursday that Edler, who played Tuesday in Nashville, is out indefinitely.After working the Toronto Argonauts game this week, a game in which the Argos thoroughly dominated the Saskatchewan Roughriders and looked like the team that finished first in the East last season, I drove to the airport to try to catch an early flight home. A fully booked flight forced me to leave two hours later. After a nice meal in which I studied the stats of the Argo win, I prepared to leave the restaurant. As I was gathering my things to leave many large individuals began to walk up and wait for tables. These men were dressed up and looked tired and as I looked closer I recognized that these were the Roughriders. They had arrived at the airport awaiting their flight home. One thing the average fan doesnt know is that you intentionally have to book the teams on later flights in case games go into overtime. Sometimes the team will be at the airport and a flight to their city leaves and they are still booked on a later flight. I had a chance to have conversations with many of them and this is certainly one of the things I miss most about coaching - the relationships with the players and other coaches. I had a good talk with Brendon LaBatte about life with children and how his part-time racing career is going. He tended to focus on how he can improve from the game a few hours before. I loved talking to the Riders offensive line coach Doug Mallone about how his team will improve next week; that it is never been easy to win in Toronto. Scott McHenry and Neil Hughes, both players that I was fortunate to work with in my time coaching, waited for a table and reflected on the game. They summed it up nicely that a lot work needs to be done for next week. Its been a while since I talked to Chris Best, a very underrated offensive lineman for the Riders, so it was great to check in on his recently married life. I went by the Regina gate because I knew thats where the coaches would be sitting. I guarantee you fans truly dont appreciate and understand how hard the coaches work to put a winning product on the field. Rookies Avon Cobourne looking dapper in a green sports coat and Ray Williams were talking about how muuch they enjoy their new roles.dddddddddddd Avon is the RBs coach and Ray is helping in the personnel department. Both players had great careers in the league and showed a tremendous passion for the game. Both men talked about how they didnt know how hard coaching was and how different it is then playing. They talked about how frustrating it is for them during the game that they cant help whats happening on the field, that its up to the players to make the plays. Im sure those two individuals will be very successful. I saw several Rider coaches already watching the game on their laptops to grade the video. Coaches are always trying to steal time whenever possible to get ahead because the work week is daunting. The technology has improved dramatically because the video department can get the coaches the game film on their laptop or their Ipad. Just five years ago you wouldve had to wait until you got home to see the game. They will try to have it finished by the time they get home. 2013 CFL Coach of the Year Corey Chamblin was sitting by himself right in front of the gate collecting his thoughts. As a former CFL head coach I can tell you after a loss you are thinking about everything that went wrong and how you can fix it. No one feels the losses as much as the head coach, and Im sure Corey will have the boys ready to go next week. As I headed to the gate, more sightings; CFL officials Richie Miller and Jim Carlisle who were also heading back to Winnipeg. Our flight was slightly delayed, most people blamed Richie and Jim for the delay. Such is the life of a CFL official. The one thing I can give insight into is the feelings after a game. The Argos, after a very difficult week, are in great spirits until the next game. The Riders will go back to work frustrated after a difficult loss. The loss always stings for the fans for a day, but for players and coaches it stays until you win again. As I was heading to my gate, I spoke to Rob Bagg, one of my all time favourite guys to coach. "Get back to work, your werent going to win all 18 games anyway. I am the only CFL person who will not lose a game this year." ' ' '