Derek Dennis enjoyed letting his hair down — his newly dyed, not-quite-green-yet hair — while meeting fans in Regina during CFL Week.
For the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ recently signed offensive tackle, hanging out with the league’s supporters is all part of the gig.
“As players, we know it’s the fans who make this league, so why not interact with them? Why not make them feel like they’re a part of it?” Dennis said Friday as the inaugural CFL Week continued at Evraz Place. “The more you make them feel like they’re a part of it, the more they’ll want to come watch games, buy merchandise and come meet us.
“As athletes, it’s like our civic duty to interact with the people. We’re blessed to do something so amazing that people look up to us. We’ve got to give them a reason to look up to us.”
CFL Week was the brainchild of commissioner Jeffrey Orridge and Christina Litz, the CFL’s senior vice-president of content and marketing.
The event was on the drawing board for about 18 months before being announced in November as the league examined ways of showcasing its brand and connecting with CFL communities.
By all accounts, the first CFL Week has been a tremendous success.
The league reports that more than 300 one-on-one interviews were conducted by media members with more than 50 players over the first two days of the event. There also were media scrums with players that weren’t counted by the league.
Players participated in panel discussions, as did eight of the league’s head coaches. The six individuals who comprise the Canadian Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017 did interviews. So did Orridge, legendary CFL and NFL quarterback Warren Moon and other personalities.
The week also featured the western regional and national combines, giving hopefuls an opportunity to display their wares in front of fans as well as the league’s player personnel types. The national combine is dominating the schedule Friday and Saturday.
Current and retired players did autograph sessions, posed for innumerable pictures, and mingled with fans and flag football players.
It made for a busy schedule, but Dennis for one wasn’t complaining.
“I haven’t had any down time to kick back and chill, but honestly, who wants to?” he said. “I came here with the intent to meet everybody, let everybody get a chance to see my face, see who I am, talk to me and get excited for the season — because I’m excited for it.”
Did he receive any odd requests while meeting the fans in Regina?
“I haven’t been asked for body signings or ‘Sign my baby’s forehead’ yet,” he said with a chuckle, “but I’m pretty sure that once we start winning and things get great around here, (requests like that) may come.”
The inaugural CFL Week was awarded to Regina in part because of the facilities at Evraz Place, but also because of what Orridge called “the football-centric environment” in Saskatchewan.
The goal was to get the CFL into the spotlight during its off-season — and it appears that goal has been attained. Players were front and centre and the combines were well-attended as fans from across the country were engaged.
“There’s nothing that I’m aware of that didn’t meet or exceed our expectations,” Orridge said. “How could you not succeed when you have everything co-operating, including the weather?”
B.C. Lions head coach/GM Wally Buono has been affiliated with the CFL since 1972, when he began his playing career with the Montreal Alouettes.
He has seen the CFL grow and he has seen it go through some tough times, so when he suggests the league needs more events like CFL Week … well, that should carry some weight.
“The CFL cannot just exist during the months of June to November,” Buono said. “We’ve got to keep the focus on the CFL all year-round and things like this are going to go a long, long way to help that. Hopefully this is helping to engage the younger generation, which we definitely need again.
“I was thrilled to hear how pleased the players were with the event. That to me is what’s making this really positive. Obviously, you want the fans involved and you want the media here, but the fact that the players see this as a tribute to who they are and what they do was very, very, very positive.”
When plans for the 2017 event were announced, Orridge said the league wants to rotate CFL Week throughout Canada. With the success of the inaugural event in Regina, the commissioner was asked Friday if the league would ponder keeping the event in the Queen City for a couple of years.
“We don’t have a timeline in terms of how many venues we do in a certain amount of time,” Orridge replied. “The goal is to still have this move to other communities, but we haven’t made a determination on where next year will be yet, so I’ve got to leave it at that.
“We’re not even done with this one. In all fairness, we’re going to go back, evaluate all the elements, do a proper, thorough assessment and then figure out the next one. We haven’t done that yet.”
