As if the window for Canadian quarterbacks to play football wasn’t small enough, Brad Launhardt may have just had the door slammed shut on his playing career.
But with Canada West and U-Sports announcing the cancellation of the upcoming fall season due to COVID-19 concerns, that door and window are looking more like a rock and a hard place for the University of Alberta Golden Bears pivot.
After leading the conference with 2,328 passing yards in eight games to get back in the playoffs in his first season as a full-time starter in 2019, the Bears captain was passed by in May’s Canadian Football League draft. That put him on track to return behind centre with the Bears in September to help continue the program’s advancement in his fifth and final year of eligibility.
But now, with the pandemic exasperating an already fragile financial forecast for post-secondary schools thanks to recent provincial budget cuts, flipping ahead to the 2021 calendar reveals nothing but question marks at this point. The least of which have to do with his own playing status.
While U-Sports has declared student-athletes won’t lose a year of eligibility, it’s a bit of a double-whammy for someone like Launhardt, who was set to age out after this season.
“This next year, I was going to be in my fifth year and I’m also kind of unique because I’m also at the age cap,” said the six-foot Bev Facey grad, who spent three well-decorated seasons in junior with the Edmonton Huskies in between stints with the Bears. “I am turning 25 in September, so with the whole football age cap on how long you can play, we’re still waiting to hear for sure what’s going to happen.”
The cancellation announcement came just as a glimpse of light began appearing at the end of this coronavirus tunnel, with the province entering Stage 2 of its relaunch Tuesday.
“It was quite shocking, to be honest with you,” Launhardt said. “Especially because just weeks before, things were looking good. Our coach was pretty positive we were going to have a season, everything was moving in the direction we thought would lead us to having a season, even if it was a condensed season.
“It’s disappointing that we’re not going to have anything at all, but it is what it is. Moving forward, we just talked about being ready for the next time we’re on the field, which might be two years from now.”
On Friday, Launhardt will partake in a virtual convocation, graduating with an education degree he hopes will one day lead to a chance to remain in football as a coach.
In the meantime, he’s hoping his playing days aren’t quite numbered just yet.
“It’s tough as a Canadian quarterback and I think I’ve prepared myself to move on after football,” he said, adding he hasn’t given up on his dream of reaching the pros. “You want to take every chance you can to play that next level.
“But that’s why I was playing as long as I am and why I went into education. I love coaching, I love working with kids. One day, hopefully I get that chance and can coach some high-school kids. But I’m trying to postpone it as long as I can to play the last year.”
The problem some players may face is having other opportunities come up over the next year while they prepare to return to the gridiron.
“It might just be a point where working is a better opportunity for me,” said Launhardt, whose last game was a 28-23 loss to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the Hardy Cup semifinal on Nov. 2. “The off-season’s are long enough in football, eight months, and now you’re looking at 20 months of training and getting ready. It’s crazy to wait that long.”
As many as 46 of the 48 players on the Bears roster in that last game are already able to return to the team next year. And now, not one, but two recruiting classes will be waiting in the wings.
“I’m thinking about the young guys going into Grade 12 next year and if they’re going to get the chance to play high school football or not,” Launhardt said, adding those players may have to rely on Grade 11 film to attract recruiters. “They might not have been playing full-time and some of those guys, you feel for.”
It’s not the beginning to the university career any of them are would be looking for, and certainly not the ending Launhardt expected.
“It’s all you’re working toward, and it’s kind of crazy, no one could have seen it coming,” he said. “One day, there’s going to be a football season, so we’ll see. And hopefully our program can keep moving forward and progressing.
“I’m looking forward to seeing that.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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