Something to Take Your Mind of Utes Football

[The Miami Ute]

Football north of the border:

[Utah]

Why watch that when you could watch Saquan F**king Barkley!!!

Go Birds!!!

[UteBaron89]

As one born and raised in a CFL city who still watches every one of my hometown teams games that I can, I appreciate the post! No, it’s not the NFL, but it is a fun and unique league with talented players. I’ve always been a little disappointed that some former Utes don’t seem to consider it as an option when the NFL well runs dry for them. It’s not for everyone, as the skill set required is pretty specific for most positions. However, if you have the skill set that fits and get into the right situation, you can have quite a successful career living in some great cities while making a decent living playing the game you love. Many who go up there and thrive end up staying there after they’re done.

Former guys who are still trying to hang on to the NFL dream who could find success up there:
Bradlee Anae (fast, undersized pass rushers are very desirable)
Mika Tafua (see above)
Francis Bernard (they love smart LB’s who are great in coverage)
Marquise Blair (ball magnet that every receiver in the league would be terrified of after two weeks)
Terrell Burgess (fundamentally sound and smart)

Current guys who could find success up there if NFL didn’t work out:
Junior Tafuna (they like smaller, quicker DT’s)
Brant Kuithe (health obviously a concern, but would be a dominant slot receiver up there)
Cam Rising (would have to be healthy enough to have most of his mobility back. The game favors accurate passers who are resourceful playmakers)
Micah Bernard (RB’s that are quick, tough, and catch the ball have a chance up there)

[2008 National Champ]

The citizenship requirements are the biggest hurdle keeping most players from going to the CFL

A friend of mine who was a Little All-American Center at Western Washington was recruited by the BC Lions but would have needed to get dual citizenship since they used their allotments of non-Canadians on skill players.

[UteBaron89]

Yes, almost half the roster spots have to be filled by Canadians, which is why it’s difficult to find a spot and carve out a niche as an American. About one-hundred starting spots for Americans across nine teams. The Canadians are usually the offensive lineman, a couple receivers, the odd RB, a DT or two, one LB, the FS, and the kicker/punter. They use five in the secondary. 2 CB’s 2 DB’s that cover slots, and one FS. The FS is always Canadian. The other four in the secondary are almost always American, as is the QB and the backups. Unique time now where there are actually a couple Canadian QB’s that are good. One is Nathan Rourke (cup of coffee in Jacksonville), who is the older brother of Indiana’s QB, Kurtis Rourke. They usually don’t even give a Canadian QB a chance. They figure they can find an American just as good or better and use a good Canadian somewhere else.

[The Miami Ute]

Crazy that the best Winnipeg could do for a QB was 36 year old Zach Collaros. Do CFL teams not pay much? If they don’t, moving to another country for football might not be worth the hassle.

[UteBaron89]

The experienced starters are making $500,000-$600,000 now, which surprised me. If you can have a few successful seasons, they’ll retread you over and over and you’ll end up playing for over ten years for half the teams in the league. lol. Same with the Head Coaches. The same ones just keep bouncing around the league.

[The Miami Ute]

$500-600K is damn good money, especially if you live a simple life and invest significant portions of it over, say a decade-long career. It’s chump change though compared to what Canadian hockey players make in the NHL.

[Tony (admin)]

Fixed your video so it plays inline. Just put the video url on its own line and that will do it.

[The Miami Ute]

Thanks Tony…

[Author]

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