Inside the CFL: Is the name change in Edmonton a curse?

   By Graham Kelly,

For the Herald

Don’t quote the Bard to Medicine Hat Edmonton Elk, nee Eskimo expert Ken Montgomery who blames his team’s struggles on the “Curse of the Name Change”, even going so far as to suggest bringing Wally Buono in to turn things around.  Before making the B.C. Lions respectable Buono built a powerhouse in Calgary.  The first great EE dynasty in the 1950’s began when the Edmonton brain trust lured Johnny Bright and Normie Kwong away from the banks of the Bow to the North Saskatchewan.

     Under the Eskimo banner, the team had a glorious history, winning 14 Grey Cups in 25 tries, making the playoffs 59 times, including 34 consecutive appearances .  To keep things in perspective, the Edmonton football team no matter what you call it has given their fans in the City of Champions and elsewhere  a lot of satisfaction over the years.

      There are 37 Green and Gold players and builders in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, including Ken’s grandfather who was a vital cog in that first great Edmonton era. He re-founded the Eskimos in1938 and ’39 and was president of the club from 1952 through 1954 when they won their first league championship.  He served as president of the Canadian Rugby Union in 1956 and the Western Interprovincial Football Union in 1957.  He was a man of great vision, something the league sorely lacks today.

     To further reconciliation with Canadian citizens of Indigenous ancestry, the name “Eskimos” was dropped in favour of “Elks”. Since the change, a head coach and  general manager have been fired, the team finished fifth last year with a mark of 3-11 and are 1-4 this year.  They haven’t won a  home game since Oct. 12, 2019.  Is Ken Montgomery right? Is the decline and fall of Canada’s greatest football franchise due to the Curse of the Name Change?

      Last Thursday’s Battle of Alberta might make you think so.  Ominous clouds rolled into Commonwealth Stadium and, quoth the Bard, “The lightning  flashed, the thunder roared, the rain came down in torrents”. Quarterback Tre Ford suffered a shoulder/collarbone separation  at 7:30 of the 1st quarter. His replacement Nick Arbuckle was ineffective and on Monday traded to Ottawa for a draft choice.  He was replaced by receiver Kai Locksley who went nowhere.  The final was 49-6 for Calgary, the second most points surrendered in team history. The defence gave up 44 the opening game of the season at B.C. Place.    Taylor Cornelius who had eight starts for the Elks at QB in 2021 gets the nod tonight in Montreal, another team in turmoil.

     A major reason the team is struggling is because Chris Jones is having a weekly airlift.  New bodies are coming and going almost every day. After their opening loss in B.C. eleven starters were replaced.  Seven more were benched for Game Three.

     The Elks have 10 players on Six Game Injured Reserve, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and  Calgary nine each. The Antlered ones are in the same situation as their rivals.

     Jones said during the pre-season  every player has to compete every day for his job. Perhaps he needs to take a less ruthless approach and give his players time to grow together and mature. Except for Forde, when a quarterback struggled for a few drives, he got the hook.  He always seemed lukewarm about Nick Arbuckle and finally got rid of him. Jones has to say to Cornelius, “You’re my man” and let him develop.

       Or maybe he has little to work with.  He made only one change on defence for the last game.  They responded by surrendering 43 points. You can’t make chicken salad from chicken feathers. That’s on Jones because he is the defensive coordinator as well as the head coach and general manager and gets paid accordingly.

      I thought after their competitive loss to Saskatchewan and win over Hamilton, the Elks were getting better.  But it has been one step forward, two steps back.

     Pope Francis is coming to our province this month.  Lifelong EE fan  Henk Hof has a solution. The former principal of the Hat’s  Monsignor McCoy High School suggests  the Curse of the Name Change can be overcome with a Papal blessing of Commonwealth Stadium.