Canadian talent has never been better

It’s a stat that when you first hear it, it almost feels made up.

Despite close to half of all CFL players possessing a Canadian passport, and with plenty of homegrown stars in the league, it’s the first year when Canadians have led the CFL in receiving and rushing yards in the same season.

For Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira, the 2024 campaign was the second consecutive season he’s paced the CFL in rushing, with his 1,353 yards slightly down from the 1,534 he racked up in 2023. It’s become a common occurrence in recent years for a Canadian to finish as the league’s leading rusher, including nine of the past 12 years, split between four different players.

Meanwhile, it took almost 15 years for a receiver to find his way back to the top, with the B.C. Lions’ Justin McInnis and his 1,469 receiving yards the first Canadian to lead the league since Andy Fantuz did it in 2010. McInnis is the seventh Canadian player to achieve the feat since the CFL’s inaugural season in 1958.

Mike O’Shea sees no coincidence behind the league milestone. In listening to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach speak, you get the feeling it’s long overdue.

“Our Canadian talent across North America has never been better,” said O’Shea, a native of North Bay, Ont., whose career spanned 16 CFL seasons before his induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017. “Across the board, these guys can all play. I feel great about all these guys we bring in and these guys across the entire league. I’m always amazed at how good these athletes are and how well they play the game of football.”

Indeed, the level of Canadian talent playing football has been on the rise for years now and it’s being reflected in professional leagues around the globe, though no more than in the CFL.

For instance, the thought of having one Canadian quarterback playing regularly in the CFL felt like a pipedream just 10 years ago. Fast-forward to today and there’s two this season in Edmonton’s Tre Ford and B.C.’s Nathan Rourke who have led their teams and will be starters again next season.

While all CFL teams are required to start seven Canadians, split between offence and defence, many have opted to start even more, with Winnipeg starting as many as 10 Canadians in a game this season.

“It starts with a great coaching staff that are really all-in on the idea of what players can do and not what they can’t do. You’re always, no matter where a player comes from, you’re treating them the same, you’re always trying to see what they can do for the team,” added O’Shea. “I think we do a pretty good job of trying to give guys as much opportunity as possible, but, I imagine, there’s probably some very talented players that just don’t get the same opportunity, necessarily, to showcase all their talents.”

O’Shea didn’t outright say it, but his comments suggest that not all coaches think the same as him when it comes to Canadian talent.

That was certainly the case when Patrick Neufeld started his CFL career in 2010, after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan. The Bombers veteran right guard said if you were a player coming out of a Canadian university, there were only a handful of positions open for you to play.

“There were your three interior offensive lineman, one nose tackle, maybe a linebacker and a field corner or safety and those were the only spots you played,” added Neufeld. “That whole pride of being a Canadian in this league playing a non-traditional spot, that’s been thrown out the window. It’s become a point of pride now that Canadians want to be the best players on the field in the Canadian Football League when they leave college.”

There’s always been star Canadian talent playing in the CFL. For years, the talent was mostly top-heavy, with the weaker Canadian players easy to pick out on a roster.

It could often create division in the locker room, especially among U.S.-born players who struggled to understand being played over an inferior teammate just because he’s Canadian.

Today, passports are barely talked about in the locker room. Part of that is U.S.-born players are better educated about the CFL when they arrive, but an even greater reason is the talent between Canadians and Americans has almost levelled off.

“I love how there’s more guys blossoming out here, and more guys making a name for themselves,” said receiver Nic Demski, a Winnipeg native who starred at the University of Manitoba. “I’ve had times where I’ve been in the locker room and someone comes up to me and is like, ‘Wait, you’re Canadian?’ The Canadian talent is getting so good right now, it doesn’t really matter about the passport.”

Demski gave credit to the players who came before him — specifically running back Andrew Harris and receivers Andy Fantuz and Chris Getzlaf — for paving the way, breaking down some of the hurdles facing Canadian so that players like him could flourish.

It’s equally fair to say Demski’s success over his 10 CFL seasons has helped the likes of up-and-coming Canadian receivers Tyson and Jalen Philpot and Sam Emilus, just to name a few, and even Oliveira, who considers Demski to be one of his greatest mentors and friends in the league.

As for Oliveira, there’s perhaps no better an example of a player who has helped change the tired narratives that often plagued Canadians. The Winnipeg native received his second consecutive West Division nomination for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player earlier this week.

“I take great pride in being nominated for MOP in back-to-back seasons and being one of the best players in the league as a Canadian,” Oliveira said. “I see it as my responsibility and it’s something I want to continue to prove while I’m in this league. I know what I can bring to the table and, hopefully, I can get the younger generation to keep on following in my footsteps.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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