thedrifter
01-05-08, 07:06 AM
Movement underway to make former CFL star Ealey eligible for Hall of Fame nomination
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Fri Jan 4, 6:49 PM ET
TORONTO - There's a movement underway to have former CFL star Chuck Ealey considered for enshrinement into the U.S. College Football Hall of Fame.
Ealey enjoyed a stellar college career at Toledo, sporting an impressive 35-0 record as a starter and leading the school to three straight Tangerine Bowl titles ('69-'71). He then joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in '72 and was named the CFL's top rookie en route to leading the Ticats to a Grey Cup championship that season.
He later went on to play for both the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Despite his impressive college football resume, Ealey has never been considered for nomination to the U.S. college football shrine. That's because to be nominated, a player must have received first-team all-America consideration by a selector recognized by the NCAA.
Unfortunately, NCAA records indicate Ealey never received such consideration, therefore is ineligible for nomination.
However, a website (www.inductchuck.com) has been established to help change the induction criteria and ensure that players like Ealey be eligible for nomination.
"The thing is, I'm going to be fine whether I'm it or not," Ealey said Friday at the International Bowl luncheon. "At the same time, this is not just about me.
"You would not believe the number of players who can't get in just because of nomination issues. Players like Steve McNair and (Donovan) McNabb, you name them, they're out there. We'll just have to see how it goes."
-
NOT CFL MATERIAL - Greg Schiano takes a philosophical approach to explaining his brief tenure as a CFL player.
The Rutgers University head football coach signed as a free-agent linebacker with the Toronto Argonauts following his graduation from Bucknell University in 1988. Schiano attended training camp and appeared in an exhibition game with the Argos before ultimately being released. Toronto's head coach at the time was none other than Bob O'Billovich, who was named the GM of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last month.
"I (wasn't) good enough," Schiano said. "That's the thing I try to explain to my players.
"There's not one guy who ever got cut; you cut yourself. I cut myself. I wasn't good enough. It was a six-week Canadian Football League career. It wasn't very much. One thing you have to know: I haven't met many players who don't think that they're good enough. You're glad about that. If a guy walked around thinking he wasn't good enough, he certainly wouldn't be."
Schiano will lead Rutgers into the International Bowl on Saturday against Ball State University at Rogers Centre.
It was after his brief stint with Toronto that Schiano ended his career as a player and took up coaching.
"Since I've become a coach, I've watched some of my (game) tape from college," he said. "Man, I wasn't very good."
"I thought I was good, but I wasn't very good. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing."
-
CANADIAN CONTENT: There will certainly be no shortage of Canadian content on the International Bowl's television broadcast team.
Announcers John Saunders, Jesse Palmer and Stacey Dales are all native Canadians while another member of the crew, Doug Flutie, played eight seasons in the CFL.
Saunders, a native of Ajax, Ont., will be the host announcer for the second straight year. He will be joined once again by Flutie, who was the CFL's outstanding player an unprecedented six times and also spent time in the NFL with Chicago, New England (twice), Buffalo and San Diego. He became a U.S. college football analyst with ABC and ESPN last year.
Palmer is a native of Toronto who grew up in Ottawa. He played collegiately at Florida and was drafted by the New York Giants in 2001. He spent four seasons there before finishing his NFL career with San Francisco in 2005. He had a brief stint with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL in 2006 before heading into television in 2007. He is well-known outside of football for his appearance on the television show The Bachelor in 2004.
Dales was born in Collingwood, Ont., and raised in Brockville. In 2002, she led the University of Oklahoma to the NCAA women's basketball final before playing professionally in the WNBA. She later became an analyst in men's and women's basketball as well as a sideline reporter for U.S. college football games.
-
MATURE STUDENT: Brandon Crawford adds a whole new meaning to the term mature student.
Crawford, 31, will start at defensive end for Ball State in the International Bowl against Rutgers University on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
The six-foot-one, 248-pound Crawford is a former U.S. Marine who is playing football following his military career.
"It's a great feeling, words can't explain it," he said. "Just to be able to here, to have a successful season in order to be eligible to even be selected to play in a Bowl game, words can't explain it.
"I'm living in the moment right now, just trying to work hard every day so that we can be successful at the end of the day."
Crawford joined the Marines in 1999, three years after graduating high school in Fort Wayne, Ind. He attended boot camp in San Diego and did combat training before being stationed in North Carolina.
Crawford worked in a clerical position, processing orders from commanding officers, putting packages together and auditing record books. He spent his time at a computer in an office and worked his way up to corporal.
But four years after joining the Marines, Crawford wanted to return to school and play football, so he enrolled at Ball State and tried out for the team as a walk-on.
"I wanted to just go out and see if I had a possibility to play and it just so happens it worked out for me and I was able to," he said. "I always had that one desire in my heart.
"I just knew if I had the possibility to do it, I was going to go out and try and work hard and see how everything worked out for me."
He was red-shirted his first year, so he officially began playing in 2006 and became a starter this season. He leads his team with 17 tackles for losses and eight sacks. He blocked a potential game-winning field goal against Navy in the final play of regulation, allowing Ball State to prevail in overtime.
-
RUTGERS ALUM - Ball State University president Jo Ann M. Gora is in kind of a tricky spot.
The Cardinals football team will play in its first bowl game in 11 years on Saturday when they face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the International Bowl at Rogers Centre.
But Gora also has ties to Rutgers, which is where she earned master's and doctoral degrees in sociology.
Ellie
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Fri Jan 4, 6:49 PM ET
TORONTO - There's a movement underway to have former CFL star Chuck Ealey considered for enshrinement into the U.S. College Football Hall of Fame.
Ealey enjoyed a stellar college career at Toledo, sporting an impressive 35-0 record as a starter and leading the school to three straight Tangerine Bowl titles ('69-'71). He then joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in '72 and was named the CFL's top rookie en route to leading the Ticats to a Grey Cup championship that season.
He later went on to play for both the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Despite his impressive college football resume, Ealey has never been considered for nomination to the U.S. college football shrine. That's because to be nominated, a player must have received first-team all-America consideration by a selector recognized by the NCAA.
Unfortunately, NCAA records indicate Ealey never received such consideration, therefore is ineligible for nomination.
However, a website (www.inductchuck.com) has been established to help change the induction criteria and ensure that players like Ealey be eligible for nomination.
"The thing is, I'm going to be fine whether I'm it or not," Ealey said Friday at the International Bowl luncheon. "At the same time, this is not just about me.
"You would not believe the number of players who can't get in just because of nomination issues. Players like Steve McNair and (Donovan) McNabb, you name them, they're out there. We'll just have to see how it goes."
-
NOT CFL MATERIAL - Greg Schiano takes a philosophical approach to explaining his brief tenure as a CFL player.
The Rutgers University head football coach signed as a free-agent linebacker with the Toronto Argonauts following his graduation from Bucknell University in 1988. Schiano attended training camp and appeared in an exhibition game with the Argos before ultimately being released. Toronto's head coach at the time was none other than Bob O'Billovich, who was named the GM of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last month.
"I (wasn't) good enough," Schiano said. "That's the thing I try to explain to my players.
"There's not one guy who ever got cut; you cut yourself. I cut myself. I wasn't good enough. It was a six-week Canadian Football League career. It wasn't very much. One thing you have to know: I haven't met many players who don't think that they're good enough. You're glad about that. If a guy walked around thinking he wasn't good enough, he certainly wouldn't be."
Schiano will lead Rutgers into the International Bowl on Saturday against Ball State University at Rogers Centre.
It was after his brief stint with Toronto that Schiano ended his career as a player and took up coaching.
"Since I've become a coach, I've watched some of my (game) tape from college," he said. "Man, I wasn't very good."
"I thought I was good, but I wasn't very good. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing."
-
CANADIAN CONTENT: There will certainly be no shortage of Canadian content on the International Bowl's television broadcast team.
Announcers John Saunders, Jesse Palmer and Stacey Dales are all native Canadians while another member of the crew, Doug Flutie, played eight seasons in the CFL.
Saunders, a native of Ajax, Ont., will be the host announcer for the second straight year. He will be joined once again by Flutie, who was the CFL's outstanding player an unprecedented six times and also spent time in the NFL with Chicago, New England (twice), Buffalo and San Diego. He became a U.S. college football analyst with ABC and ESPN last year.
Palmer is a native of Toronto who grew up in Ottawa. He played collegiately at Florida and was drafted by the New York Giants in 2001. He spent four seasons there before finishing his NFL career with San Francisco in 2005. He had a brief stint with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL in 2006 before heading into television in 2007. He is well-known outside of football for his appearance on the television show The Bachelor in 2004.
Dales was born in Collingwood, Ont., and raised in Brockville. In 2002, she led the University of Oklahoma to the NCAA women's basketball final before playing professionally in the WNBA. She later became an analyst in men's and women's basketball as well as a sideline reporter for U.S. college football games.
-
MATURE STUDENT: Brandon Crawford adds a whole new meaning to the term mature student.
Crawford, 31, will start at defensive end for Ball State in the International Bowl against Rutgers University on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
The six-foot-one, 248-pound Crawford is a former U.S. Marine who is playing football following his military career.
"It's a great feeling, words can't explain it," he said. "Just to be able to here, to have a successful season in order to be eligible to even be selected to play in a Bowl game, words can't explain it.
"I'm living in the moment right now, just trying to work hard every day so that we can be successful at the end of the day."
Crawford joined the Marines in 1999, three years after graduating high school in Fort Wayne, Ind. He attended boot camp in San Diego and did combat training before being stationed in North Carolina.
Crawford worked in a clerical position, processing orders from commanding officers, putting packages together and auditing record books. He spent his time at a computer in an office and worked his way up to corporal.
But four years after joining the Marines, Crawford wanted to return to school and play football, so he enrolled at Ball State and tried out for the team as a walk-on.
"I wanted to just go out and see if I had a possibility to play and it just so happens it worked out for me and I was able to," he said. "I always had that one desire in my heart.
"I just knew if I had the possibility to do it, I was going to go out and try and work hard and see how everything worked out for me."
He was red-shirted his first year, so he officially began playing in 2006 and became a starter this season. He leads his team with 17 tackles for losses and eight sacks. He blocked a potential game-winning field goal against Navy in the final play of regulation, allowing Ball State to prevail in overtime.
-
RUTGERS ALUM - Ball State University president Jo Ann M. Gora is in kind of a tricky spot.
The Cardinals football team will play in its first bowl game in 11 years on Saturday when they face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the International Bowl at Rogers Centre.
But Gora also has ties to Rutgers, which is where she earned master's and doctoral degrees in sociology.
Ellie