Honest Opinion - is CFL considered a "semi-pro" league?

[kelownabomberfan]

I was watching the Carolina/New Orleans game today and Delvin Breaux made an interception.  Joe Buck, the Fox announcer, gave a back-story on Breaux, including his spinal issues and his recovery, then he said something like "he couldn't get a look in the NFL, and was forced to go play semi-pro ball in the CFL".  I of course reacted negatively to that comment with some four letter expletives hurled at the TV as I took Buck's comment as an arrogant insult from an American bozo (kind of like that other Fox clown that was doing the baseball and insulted Canada), but then I reflected on this statement.  Is the CFL a true "professional" league, or is it "semi-pro" - and I honestly don't even know what "semi-pro" means.  If you get paid to play a sport, and fans show up and pay to watch you play it, then you are a professional player.  Right?  Opinions? 

[Jesse]

I think semi-pro more refers to something like the gold eyes where the players are "paid", but it's a nominal amount that is no where near enough to live on.

[Mr Dee]

I had to listen to it again, but all's he said was "semi-pro league, the CFL, then the Saints.

Joel Gasson

Joel Gasson – ‏@JGasson_21

Joe Buck did not call the #CFL semi-pro there was a comma between the two.

2:03 PM - 6 Dec 2015

[kelownabomberfan]

ok, then I stand corrected.

[Goalie]

Maybe he meant arena league?

[iso_55]

The play this year with all the qb injuries & flags was below what we have come to expect. The quality of both players & play with the same zone read base play does make it seem amateurish at times. No one has any new ideas anymore. Teams run the same stuff all the time all across the league. When was the last time a qb took the ball from center & dropped back 3 or 5 steps & threw the football on second & long? Every play, except short yardage is gun snap. Boring. 

[kelownabomberfan]

Mike Kelly would agree with you Iso.

[iso_55]

Mike Kelly would agree with you Iso.

Back in 2009, the offense we see now were just getting started. The zone read was something fairly new. It was used in college & people thought it wwould never work in pro football but it was made for the wider field. Now it's just boring football, Seldom do qbs run with the football so linebackers or DE's don't have to worry about that threat anyway.

[DR. CFL]

Does that make the AHL a semi pro league?

[blueandgoldguy]

I remember quite a few more intermediate passes in the range of 15-25 yards back in the 80s and 90s when I was a kid.  More INTs, yes, given the greater risks involved than a 3 yard curl, but it was more exciting football.  Or maybe nostalgia is clouding my memories?

[JuranBoldenRules]

 

Mike Kelly would agree with you Iso.

Back in 2009, the offense we see now were just getting started. The zone read was something fairly new. It was used in college & people thought it wwould never work in pro football but it was made for the wider field. Now it's just boring football, Seldom do qbs run with the football so linebackers or DE's don't have to worry about that threat anyway.

 

 

Zone read was not new to the CFL in 2009.  You watched Burris and Reynolds do it for years prior to that.

[iso_55]

Does that make the AHL a semi pro league?

No, not at all. 

[iso_55]

 

 

Mike Kelly would agree with you Iso.

Back in 2009, the offense we see now were just getting started. The zone read was something fairly new. It was used in college & people thought it wwould never work in pro football but it was made for the wider field. Now it's just boring football, Seldom do qbs run with the football so linebackers or DE's don't have to worry about that threat anyway.

 

 

Zone read was not new to the CFL in 2009.  You watched Burris and Reynolds do it for years prior to that.

 

I know that. But it came into the league around 04 or 05 full time. It may have been there sooner but qbs were still dropping back from center. It became a base offense after that. I hate it. 

[Logan007]

We're like a 3/4 Pro league. 

[Mr Dee]

We're like a 3/4 Pro league. 

Because we only have 3 downs to their 4?

[Zontar]

Unless family practice medicine is "semi professional" medicine I'll agree . Many CFL players make as much or more than the average GP in a year.

[GCn20]

There is nothing new about a zone read in Canadian football.

[iso_55]

I remember quite a few more intermediate passes in the range of 15-25 yards back in the 80s and 90s when I was a kid.  More INTs, yes, given the greater risks involved than a 3 yard curl, but it was more exciting football.  Or maybe nostalgia is clouding my memories?

I remember 1971 & Don Jonas won the CFL MOP award. Going by memory, he threw something like 32 touchdowns & had 31 interceptions. Quarterbacks today are much more accurate with their passing & offenses today stretch the field both horizontally  as well as vertically. Back in the 60's & 70's if you had a qb with a strong arm it was Long Bomb City. 

[Goalie]

Well, funny thing there about the 60's and 70's even 90's and early 2000's 

 

Eventually D's all adapt so the O has to also but... there is only so much adapting an O can do...

 

After all, It's basically throw the ball, catch the ball, or run the  ball.... there are only so many different options one can come up with to do that. 

 

D? Well, again, only so much they can do too, the whole idea behind a D is to make tackles, stop the other team from scoring, you can only do so much...

 

and once a team does something that works well, other teams copy it. It is what it is. 

 

Football has evolved over time. All sports have. Maybe except for Baseball and basketball. 

[James]

A semi pro league doesn't pay anybody half a million dollars to throw a football... CFL is legit.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

I was watching the Carolina/New Orleans game today and Delvin Breaux made an interception.  Joe Buck, the Fox announcer, gave a back-story on Breaux, including his spinal issues and his recovery, then he said something like "he couldn't get a look in the NFL, and was forced to go play semi-pro ball in the CFL".  I of course reacted negatively to that comment with some four letter expletives hurled at the TV as I took Buck's comment as an arrogant insult from an American bozo (kind of like that other Fox clown that was doing the baseball and insulted Canada), but then I reflected on this statement.  Is the CFL a true "professional" league, or is it "semi-pro" - and I honestly don't even know what "semi-pro" means.  If you get paid to play a sport, and fans show up and pay to watch you play it, then you are a professional player.  Right?  Opinions? 

If the majority of the players need a secondary job then yes semi-pro.

[wbbfan]

Just an ignorant nfl color guy. No shock and not worth taking offence to tbh. Cfl is a cultural institution, and a legit pro league. It is more blue collar then most pro leagues but i think most fans enjoy that.

[blitzmore]

It's like many broadcasters in the US calling the US President the leader of the "free" world.

[KptKrunch]

Harold Reynolds was the baseball guy. And the comment was directed at fans - and what he was saying was Canadians in general 'don't know what to do with a foul ball' because we only have one team here and so are limited in what we can see in person. It still was a dumb comment but it wasn't near as bad as what it was blown up to be. 

 

The CFL is not a 'semi-pro' league. That was defined nicely here. It's where a player is 'paid' to play but its very very little. The definition of a semipro league that is main stream is Lacrosse. The season is very short (starts in January or Feb I believe and is over in March/April) and ALL the players have jobs outside of Lacrosse. Many don't even live in the city they play in. When we had the Rush here many players had to fly in from all over for 'practice' before they played their weekend games (they don't play during the week).

 

Another 'semi-pro' league here in Canada would  be curling. All curlers have other jobs (though a lot still revolve around curling - i.e. Kevin Martin owned a curling store as an example).

 

In the CFL, there are still a number of  players that have other jobs (I remember Stu Laird who was a firefighter and still played football but then retired very early so he could be a full time fire fighter - makes a lot more money doing that and a much better pension and benefit plan) mainly because they have long off season - what else are they going to do? And football doesn't last forever you could lose your job to injury, age, or just a better player beating you out - any year. But, you don't 'need' to as the base salary in the CFL is more than enough to live on (you won't be rich, but you'll be well above the 'poverty' line).

 

But the quality of play, now that we're watered down again with '9' teams...... just wait until we get a 10th team. It will get really ugly then. We just don't have enough 'pro' quality Canadian talent given the current ratio to field 10 quality football teams.

[KptKrunch]

 

I was watching the Carolina/New Orleans game today and Delvin Breaux made an interception.  Joe Buck, the Fox announcer, gave a back-story on Breaux, including his spinal issues and his recovery, then he said something like "he couldn't get a look in the NFL, and was forced to go play semi-pro ball in the CFL".  I of course reacted negatively to that comment with some four letter expletives hurled at the TV as I took Buck's comment as an arrogant insult from an American bozo (kind of like that other Fox clown that was doing the baseball and insulted Canada), but then I reflected on this statement.  Is the CFL a true "professional" league, or is it "semi-pro" - and I honestly don't even know what "semi-pro" means.  If you get paid to play a sport, and fans show up and pay to watch you play it, then you are a professional player.  Right?  Opinions? 

If the majority of the players need a secondary job then yes semi-pro.

 

 

If the 'secondary' job is the 'pro' league you are playing for, it's 'semipro'. If the secondary job is part time to supplement what you make playing a sport (or to keep yourself busy/options open in case of injury) then it's not. CFL is the latter.