Homegrown talent conspicuous Kent Gilchrist, The Province Published: Friday, October 10, 2008 If you've seen a replay of O'Neil Wilson's one-handed touchdown catch last week at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, you'd be shocked to know the B.C. Lions picked the outstanding Canadian receiver off the waiver wire after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had cut him. Non-import assets such as Wilson, apparently, grow on trees these days. How else to explain the fact the Ticats weren't the first team this year to cut the fifth-year receiver who was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes? He was also cut by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. That the Ticats have Chris Bauman, Pat Woodcock, Scott Mitchell and Chad Remple playing ahead of Wilson would seem to confirm the depth of quality homegrown talent being given a chance to shine at what used to be considered "skill" positions by U.S.-born and trained coaches. Regina's Jason Clermont -- who might have played his entire career as a special teams guy or tight end in a previous era -- looked mystified when it was suggested having so many Canadians starting at receiver or running back was a relatively new phenomenon. Clermont, of course, has played the last six of his seven years in the CFL under Canadian head coach Wally Buono. But B.C. receivers coach Jacques Chapdelaine remembers when he played in the 1980s with the Lions and fellow Simon Fraser University alum John Pankratz, there was a "Canadian role". "Wally will always say [in meetings] 'don't punish a guy because he's Canadian,'" said Chapdelaine on Thursday, as the Lions made final preparations for tonight's game against the Edmonton Eskimos, who also have a Canadian head coach in Danny Maciocia. Buono, who also considers defensive ends and middle linebackers as skill positions, says: "That's because I was always the eternal backup [for legendary Marv Levy]. I could start 11 games and then Carl Crennel or Chuck Zapiek would come back from an injury and I'd be back on the bench. To me, if you can play you can play, it shouldn't matter if you're Canadian or American." Both Buono and Maciocia suggest some teams still have an American-first philosophy for certain positions. In a very informal inspection of the rosters of the eight teams and looking only at running back and receiver positions, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders tied with the fewest homegrowns with five. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had the most with 10, Edmonton Eskimos nine, Hamilton Ticats eight, B.C. and Montreal had seven, and Toronto six. Canada.com
