In a swanky downtown hotel, a group of young hopefuls stripped down to their underwear. They stood on a stage in front of gaping onlookers who scrutinized their bodies, recording their heights and their weights. No, this wasn’t an audition for the latest top modelthemed reality show. This was the scene at the CFL Draft Evaluation Camp, held over the past weekend at the Varsity Centre and the InterContinental Hotel. What first seemed like a bachelor auction on steroids was actually a showcase of the skills Canada’s best football prospects have to offer.
Modelled after the NFL Scouting Combine, the CFL Camp featured 54 talented athletes vying for the attention of general managers, coaches, and scouts before Draft Day on April 30. The prospects’ skills and professional potential were evaluated through a series of tests and drills, including the 40-yard dash and short shuttle. In last year’s event, 20 of the 52 participants were eventually picked in the 2007 CFL Canadian Draft.
When asked about the importance of the combine, CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said, “One of the things we want to do is promote young athletes coming up into our league. So if you can identify who the great athletes are gonna be, and start promoting them, it’s perfect for us.”
One of those great athletes was Varsity Blues star wide receiver and co-captain Mark Stinson. As U of T’s sole representative, a humble Stinson said, “I knew coming into this that I would be an underdog, so that I had to turn heads some way. Hopefully I did that at this camp.”
In his four years playing for the Blues, Stinson has had no trouble doing just that. Throughout his career, he’s played quarterback, wide receiver, punt and kick returner, as well as punter and placekicker. This past season alone, Stinson led the Blues with 34 receptions for 386 yards, had 39 carries for 205 yards, and scored two touchdowns. He took over as primary punter when kicker/punter Joe Valtellini was sidelined with an injury, averaging 32.4 yards per punt.
Even in the midst of the CFL Camp, Stinson was not one to forget his time with the Blues. “In the past four years, I think I’ve learned more than my share. It’s been such an experience. Even though we haven’t had the record we were hoping to have, it’s been phenomenal learning how to be persistent, how to pursue your goals and dreams, and this is the goal and dream for me.” Stinson also had high praise for his fellow teammates, saying, “We have so many great players, and we have so many guys that could be here. You see a lot of freshman that are already further ahead than I was, and it’s exciting to see where they’re gonna go, and what they can do when they get to this point.”
It’s that same positive outlook that helped Stinson excel at the CFL Camp. He wasn’t even fazed by the awkwardness of stripping down and getting weighed and measured in front of the CFL’s top coaches and scouts. “It’s a meat market, it’s funny. You feel like cattle, just getting marched up there and you’re on display. But it’s part of it, it’s expected. I knew it coming in. It’s more of a joke than anything.”
But the joke sure isn’t on Stinson. In Sunday’s 40-yard dash, arguably the most important drill of the entire event, Stinson drew the attention of scouts with his remarkable performance. With a time of 4.65 seconds, he placed fifth overall and second out of all wide receivers. In fact, Stinson consistently placed in the top half of all prospects in every drill. Notably, he was ninth overall in the vertical jump with a mark of 36 inches.
According to the Commissioner, “football is big in Toronto.” And Stinson and his performance at the CFL draft camp was no exception. Cohon revealed that “[The Grey Cup] will be back [in Toronto] within the next five years”. And who knows, maybe Mark Stinson will be back too. But instead of getting marched around “like cattle” he’ll be marching across the field as a Grey Cup hero.
