TSN and SportsCage analyst Glen Suitor pushed back against Edmonton Elks' general manager Ed Hervey's statement regarding the CFL not having superstars and his subsequent clarification.
"First of all, it wasn't smart to say. Secondly, it was factually incorrect. The wrong thing to do and say because it's actually wrong," Suitor said on The SportsCage.
"Then his explanation of it became even worse when he said: 'I was saying popular icons like Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan because they're so popular, that's what makes them a superstar.' Well, Donald Trump, everyone knows who he is, and I don't think he would be a superstar in many people's eyes. I don't think being popular or having everyone know who you are is necessarily the superstar category."
Suitor gave his examples of superstars from the present and past in the CFL.
"Justin McInnis, he's world-class. Geno Lewis, who this whole controversy with Ed Hervey was centred around, he's a world-class receiver. You can't tell me that he couldn't play on half the teams in the NFL and be a star," Suitor said.
"Pick any one of the starting quarterbacks, any one of the good quarterbacks. If he had the right opportunity, Zach Collaros would have been a great NFL quarterback and a world-class player. Ricky Ray, Warren Moon, all these guys. I've had this fight and been on this hamster wheel for 35 straight years."
Suitor hopes that when a new CFL commissioner is annointed, that person can help change the narrative around the league.
"I don't want to cancel Ed Hervey, he misspoke, he wasn't factually right. The point is that whoever the new commissioner is has got to understand that we need to start messaging and understand that what we say matters," Suitor said.
"Fans are looking at guys like us for leadership in what these athletes are. What are you watching when you buy a ticket to a CFL game? What are you seeing? You're seeing a world-class athlete and we need to start saying it over and over and over again -- pointing out reasons why and explaining why. Not because fans don't understand, but because they're looking to us. If we keep saying: 'They're good, but they're not as good as this or they're okay.' First of all, it's not true. Secondly, it's poor messaging and messaging is the first step to gaining popularity."
According to Suitor, the CFL can gain popularity through a group effort from fans and the teams.
"In the bigger picture, the league needs to get a good handle on this from everyone that's involved in our league. To actually say what is real and don't shy away from it," Suitor explained.
"For some reason, we have to qualify, it's such a Canadian way. We have to qualify what we're going to do and we're complimenting -- he's a world-class athlete. Now, what I mean by that, I want to qualify what I say, no, just world-class athlete, full stop. That's it because they are. They absolutely are. They train the same. They run the same speed. They're just as strong. They went to the same schools. These guys are world-class, full stop. If we start messaging collectively that way, 10 years from now, they're going to be kids that go: 'This is world-class.' Not only because they can see it with their own eyes, but also because they've heard it for 10 straight years."
