Solomon Elimimian, the newly elected president of the CFL Players’ Association , checked his calendar six weeks ago and reasoned he had some down time before the business of the league started in earnest.
Training camps, after all, were still 3½ months away and the first game of the season was 4½ months away. Surely, that gave the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ linebacker time to get down to Phoenix and begin his own training for the upcoming season. Right?
This is what has happened since:
The start of the CFL season is suspended and the novel coronavirus pandemic has jeopardized the entire year. Players want answers. The fans want answers. It doesn’t matter that the best medical minds in the world struggle to provide answers these days.
People want some signal that things will return to “normal.”
As a result, Elimimian, who just emerged from his 14-day quarantine, spent seven hours on the phone Tuesday and was up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday to work on the PA’s budget. He was also on his third media interview of the morning before he turned to the PA’s business.
The workouts, you ask? He’s turned the living room of his Surrey home into a makeshift gym, all of which means if you want to make the gods laugh, make plans.
“You have to be versatile and creative right now,” he says. “It’s not the easiest thing to do. My days are longer and I’m not getting a lot of sleep.
“But it’s what I signed up for. So much of this is out of our hands. We have one eye on Ottawa with Trudeau and one on Washington with Trump. Guys have to plan according to their situation. What we can do is offer different resources.”
And hope they catch a break. In fact, we could all use a break.
Elimimian, a former B.C. Lion standout who was elected PA president in late February, represented a new direction for a players’ union that needed a new direction. Cutting across national lines, the respected veteran was seen as something of a populist in a PA that skewed to Canadian players, specifically offensive linemen.
And who knows? In the future, Elimimian might be that unifying force. But right now his and the union’s priorities lie elsewhere, largely because the challenges and stresses faced by the players are similar to the same challenges and stresses faced by most in the workforce.
Unemployment insurance, for example, is suddenly an issue for CFL players and eligibility requirements are being studied by the union.
Health insurance is a concern. The PA offers career advice and training through the CFLPA Academy. Financial and medical information is offered. Personal counselling and support is available on the PA website through LifeWorks.
“I’m proud of how we’ve reacted,” said Elimimian. “The biggest thing we’ve stressed is communication and information.
“A lot of things are fluid right now. The priority is health and safety but the hard part for the players in the uncertainty. I keep telling them to prepare for the worst.”
That isn’t too hard these days. The CFL, which operates on thin margins at the best of times, announced Tuesday that the start of the season has been postponed until the beginning of July. They didn’t say at the earliest. Then again, they didn’t have to.
Given the current conditions, football in July seems, er, overly optimistic. One of the scenarios under discussion would have the league starting up after Labour Day and playing a nine-game schedule, which seems more realistic. But that would present its own set of problems.
B.C. Lions players haven’t been paid since October. They don’t start getting paid until the regular season starts. Some have collected signing and roster bonuses in the off-season — the league is honouring all bonuses. But many of the established players receive bonuses for reporting to training camp and passing their physical. That’s out.
Then there’s the question of how they’d be paid for half a season. Would existing contracts simply be cut in half? Would CFL players — average salary about $90,000 — expose themselves to injury for half their salary? Would accommodations be made by the league?
There’s even a suggestion that any modification to the existing schedule would wipe out all contracts and make all players free agents at the end of this season. That one doesn’t seem likely but the mere fact the possibility can be discussed says so much about the current situation.
“I don’t want to speculate on what could be,” said Elimimian. “We’re working on all situations but we don’t know. At the end of the day I just want to give out as much information as possible. But half a season isn’t ideal.”
In the meantime, the PA tries to keep membership informed while it explores its options with the league. Right now that’s a collaboration because both sides have so much skin in this game. But despite the spirit of co-operation, despite the common goals and all the planning, they know they won’t be able to return to work until the virus allows them to return to work.
“The one thing we can control is our mindset and preparation,” said Elimimian. “We’re athletes. That’s what we do.”
Even if they’re playing a different game.
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