Celebration is deserved for CFL Draft selections

Nelson Lokombo in action for the Huskies in 2019.

They’ve worked their butts off and deserve a moment of celebration.

On Tuesday, the annual CFL Draft was held by the beleaguered Canadian professional football circuit which wasn’t able to hit the field for a season in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Due to public health orders and restrictions that are still in place to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of a possible 2021 CFL season has been pushed back from June 10 to August 5. Each team is slated to play 14 regular season games each as opposed to the normal length of 18 regular season games.

As it stands right now, the last CFL game that was played was on Nov. 24, 2019 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta., when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers thumped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 to win the Grey Cup.

While the CFL wasn’t able to hit the field in 2020, players who were selected in Tuesday’s CFL Draft should take every opportunity to enjoy the moment. They put in a lot of hard work and made a tonne of sacrifices to get to this point.

The draftees that play out of Canada had to preserver though an unprecedented 2020, where the football league in U Sports and the CJFL weren’t able to hold campaigns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Connor Berglof in action for the Huskies in 2019.

Football has been a passion for a long time for the draftees. Being selected in the CFL Draft is still a huge accomplishment.

The latest CFL Draft was a good day for both the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the University of Regina Rams.

The Huskies had three players taken in the draft including defensive backs Nelson Lokombo and Josh Hagerty along with centre Connor Berglof.

The Rams had two players selected in linebacker Robbie Lowes and running back Kyle Borsa.

On the Huskies front, Lokombo was the most well-known CFL prospect as he was named the U Sports defensive player of the year and a first team all-Canadian all-star in 2019.

That season, Lokombo, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds, topped the Huskies with four interceptions, and he returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns during the regular season.

The Abbotsford, B.C., product posted 23.5 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and four pass breakups during the regular campaign, which saw the Huskies post a 5-3 record.

Josh Hagerty in action for the Huskies in 2019.

The 22-year-old, who has played three complete seasons with the Huskies, can play every position in the defensive secondary and could likely slide into an outside linebacker spot if needed.

Connor Berglof kept up the Huskies reputation as being “O-line U” getting selected in the third round and 24^th overall by the Ottawa Redblacks. 

The graduate of Saskatoon’s Tommy Douglas Collegiate Tigers high school football team was the Huskies starting centre in 2019 and picked up all-Canadian all-star honours in his third campaign of U Sports eligibility.

The 24-year-old Berglof, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 300 pounds, became the third starter from the Huskies O-line in 2019 to be selected in the CFL Draft.

In the 2020 CFL Draft, left guard Mattland Riley was picked in the first round and seventh overall by the Roughriders, and right tackle Nick Summach was selected in the seventh round and 57^th overall by the Edmonton Football Club.

Hagerty rounded out the Huskies that were picked in the 2021 CFL Draft going in the sixth round and 47^th overall to the Toronto Argonauts.

Robbie Lowes (#32) recovers a fumble for the Rams in 2018.

The 22-year-old, who is a graduate of Regina’s Campbell Collegiate Tartans high school team, had 13.5 tackles and one interception playing six regular season games for the Huskies in 2019. Hagerty, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 200 pounds, has played three seasons for the Huskies and has a huge upside.

He has the potential to be one of those players where people will look back and not believe he was a sixth round CFL Draft selection.

On the Rams side of things, both Lowes and Borsa were selected by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Lowes was the first to go off the board being taken in the fourth round and 34^th overall. The 25-year-old, who is a graduate of Regina’s Michael A. Riffel High School Royals football team, collected 35 total tackles, two forced fumbles, two blocked kicks, one interception and one fumble recovery helping the Rams post a 3-5 record in 2019.

Lowes, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 205 pounds, played two complete seasons with the Rams after spending three seasons in the CJFL split between the Regina Thunder and the Langford, B.C., based Westshore Rebels.

Kyle Borsa in action for the Rams in 2018.

The Bombers picked Borsa in the fifth round and 39^th overall. The 22-year-old last played for the Rams in 2018 and was forced to miss the 2019 U Sports football season serving a 16-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

In the 2018 campaign, Borsa, who stands 6-feet and weighs 185 pounds, appeared in all eight of the Rams regular season games carrying the ball 96 times for 613 yards scoring six touchdowns. He caught 16 passes for 227 yards with one of those receptions going for a major score.

Borsa piled up 1,340 all-purpose yards in 2018, which was the second highest total for a Rams player in one season in the team’s U Sports history.

Also, former Rams linebacker Nick Cross, who played the 2019 campaign with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, went in the first round and ninth overall to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The 21-year-old Cross, who stands 6-feet and weighs 182 pounds, appeared in all eight regular season games for the Thunderbirds in 2019 piling up 66.5 tackles and returned one interception 17 yards for a touchdown.

Cross is a graduate of Regina’s Dr. Martin Leboldus High School Golden Suns football team.

Nick Cross, left, with Nicholas Dheilly in 2019.

For the players that were selected in Tuesday’s CFL Draft, their hard work resulted in the realization of a dream.

No matter what is happening in the world outside of the control of these players, their draft selections are an accomplishment they have every right to savour and enjoy.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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