Nathan Rourke leading Lions offense through an informal practice session at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops on Tuesday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)
CFL STRIKE

‘Don’t pee in my shoes and tell me it’s raining’: Lions feeling disrespected by CFL

May 17, 2022 | 2:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Lions are practicing, but it looks a lot different than Kamloops camp typically looks.

No helmets, no coaches, no contract.

The players are on strike for the first time nearly 50 years as the stalemate between the CFL and players association drags on.

“It’s definitely a situation we don’t want to be in. Me personally, I came here to play football, I came here for training camp,” said Lions receiver Bryan Burnham. “I didn’t leave my wife and foster kids at home to come up here and relax and not play.”

Projected starting QB Nathan Rourke added, “I think everyone wants to play. It’s not just me. But disappointed that things aren’t going the way that we planned, but that’s life and we adjust. The great thing about this group is we’re hitting the ground running and we’re getting ready, we’re still preparing as you saw today and whenever the time comes that we’ll actually be able to play, we’ll be ready.”

While the Lions’ offense and defense are practicing, they do have to be careful and aren’t going all out, as they are not insured in the case of injury with no collective bargaining agreement.

According to the Lions’ player rep David Mackie, at the crux of the dispute is player safety and revenue sharing.

“We want to get some more revenue to pay our players better. They did suggest a revenue-share model, but what we want is some transparency behind it. We want to make sure we can actually know the ins and outs of that deal, so we can actually be certain that it’s okay,” Mackie told CFJC Today at Hillside Stadium. “The biggest thing for us is player safety. They want to add padded practices and we’re okay with that. We understand we have to wear pads and put out good product, but at the end of the day we want to be protected long term.”

It would mean better medical protection after the players retire. The CFL is currently proposing extending coverage from three to four years post-retirement.

Overall, many of the players feel disrespected, especially with what they feel is a lack of transparency from the league. Lions back-up quarterback Michael O’Connor didn’t hold back in his thoughts on the situation.

Lions back-up QB Michael O’Connor, like many other players, are feeling disrespected by the league’s negotiating tactics (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

“For the CFL, and I’m saying it family-friendly, but don’t pee in my shoes and tell me it’s raining. That’s kind of the feeling I have and I think they’re misrepresenting the facts of the current proposal,” said O’Connor. “We just want to be treated with respect and as equal partners. Just be open, honest and transparent with us. That’s all we ask.”

In particular, O’Connor cited the league’s memo this week that stated $18.9 million of guaranteed salary-cap increases over the seven-year deal. He says it’s only a minimum of $100,000 per season.

The disparity between parties, with no new talks scheduled, threatens to postpone the start of the CFL, which is coming off a cancelled 2020 season and shortened 2021 campaign.

However, Mackie doesn’t believe this strike threatens the future of the league.

“This league is strong, and regardless of what the media says and everyone likes to blow some things up, if we can protect this league through a cancelled season in 2020 and a shortened season in 2021, I don’t think the integrity of the league is at risk,” said Mackie. “I love this league, I love what we do, and I just think it’s important for the protection of the league long-term.”

The Lions will keep preparing as if there is a season coming up, but hope it’s full practices as a team and a season work towards.

“I haven’t had a regular training camp in a couple years since 2019,” said Burnham. “2020 got cancelled, 2021 with COVID and having to isolate for a week and then being up here in July, it was wildfires and smoke and had a bunch of practices cancelled. Now we’re up here and we can’t do anything.”

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