CFL: Spicy social media posts by analyst Luke Willson marketing boon

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You can only sell so much cheap beer to attract a younger and lost CFL demographic.

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And you can’t continue to cater to a much older crowd that is comfortable with the way the game is played and perceived.

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These are common and casual summations from those who remain loyal to the three-down Canadian sporting institution and others who have long lost touch with its impact and influence.

Count outspoken TSN football analyst and former NFL tight-end Luke Willson among those who are considerably disturbed, yet hopeful about the league’s future.

His spicy and fiery social media posts and responses on what’s right — and a lot that’s wrong — with the CFL product is an unplanned and unrehearsed marketing bonanza. And so are his appearances on TSN Friday Night Football.

Willson has always been must-see TV for smart analysis of NFL games. Wise and witty, his chemistry with host Jay Onrait produces education and entertainment for viewers.

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So why dive into the social-media muck and mish-mash of manifestations of where the CFL is and where it desperately needs to go to improve its product and drive attendance?

Willson has 146,000 followers on the X platform, and it’s growing quickly. It was suggested that his social-media profile should state, “The Truth Shall Set You Free.” After all, if they’re talking about you, that’s okay. If they start talking with you that’s even better.

“That sounds iconic,” Willson said with a chuckle during a Postmedia interview this week.

He knows when you take issue with the game, and get into spicy X exchanges with intellectuals and trolls, it will light a fire. The root of all this is Willson’s unbridled passion for the CFL and his lingering frustration with its many shortcomings.

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He lit the fuse with a short and sizzling summation of a sloppy and sparsely attended clash between Toronto and Saskatchewan on June 22, in which the Roughriders prevailed 39-32. He called it “hot garbage”. The responses were long and testy because it sure sounded like a shot across the bow about the league. He struck a nerve.

“I was talking about the game, and there are ‘hot garbage’ games in the NFL,” clarified Willson. “I get that. If it was Thursday and a garbage (NFL) game, I would say, ‘That was brutal and my eyes are bleeding.’ The one thing I regret is it’s not hot garbage, the term is junk football. Bad ball.

“I interchange the two all the time. More specifically., that (Argonauts) game didn’t have very many moments where it’s: ‘Hey, this is really good.’ Yes, I shoot from the hip, but this is not BS. You hear this is the greatest league of all time and the best thing ever.

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“We’re in downtown Toronto and there are 11,000 people in the stands. Clearly not the best thing ever.”

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Willson, 35, is a LaSalle, Ont. native, and current coach of the London Mustangs U-18 football squad, so there’s a natural connection with the game north of the border. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 CFL Draft, but didn’t sign with the Argonauts.

The following year, Willson became a fifth-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks to commence a career of eight years with four teams, highlighted by a Super Bowl title with the Seahawks in 2014. He has seen a lot in the game wherever it’s played and knows his stuff. And that is what bugs him because he has a lot of skin in the game.

“Conversations need to be on betterment of the game,” he stressed. “Right now, there’s this weird online community. ‘Don’t change the game. Don’t touch a thing.’ It’s just the marketing. I couldn’t be more against that camp. And then you get attacked. It’s ‘This guy wants to turn us into the NFL’, and nothing could be further from the truth.

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“Another weird one was I hate the CFL and this guy is just doing it for clicks. What are clicks getting me? Nothing to gain for me. That’s what these people reduce me to, and I giggle. I played the game at the highest level, and for a couple of years on the best team in the world (Seahawks). I’ve been around the best coaches and a Super Bowl winner. I’m coming from a place of experience.”

That’s all true. However, TSN is a CFL rights-holder and pressure from above to smooth his edgy posts and responses is not lost on Willson. Even though many in the game have reached out to applaud his efforts.

“I would say they (TSN) have told me to be careful on Twitter with my tone and calling people clowns,” admitted Willson. “I understand and have toned it down. The reality is they’re happy on my reporting side with Twitter, and if you go through my feeds, there are a lot of positive things. I try to do breakdown videos and they get 20,000 views.

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“But you say something negative and you get 60,000 clicks and now I’m Mr. Negative Guy. That’s not fair. I don’t put things out for engagement. I call it like I see it.
“I blocked one guy. It gets to the point where a lot of my stuff is rooted in film. I’m not making shit up. And one guy, we get into a Twitter banter, and he starts accusing me of everything I’m accusing him of. And then he pretends to take my side. I’m like, dude, what? A lot of arguments are with people who know nothing about football.

“I will say the sky is blue, boss, and they will said it’s not.”

As we get into guts of the game, Willson wanted to express why he’s doing this.

“It kind of boils down to the personal side because I was a kid in Canada, who looked up to players and wanted to play pro football,” he said. “I eventually fulfilled that dream and wanted to grow the game in Canada. It has given me opportunities and is a huge part of my life.

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“And not just the pro side or financial, but from values and characteristics and what it’s taught me in all areas of my life. I hold the game very near and dear. If I can give 1/100th back to the Canadian community, the would mean the world to me.”

That said, here’s what irks Willson:

CFL offences have ‘very simple concepts’

A lot of us grew up with the game when it wasn’t chess, more like gunslingers taking their best shots on any down at any time.

It was exciting. It became you’ve got to be there to see it.

“There’s an ideal or stereotype that the CFL is very innovative league and the NFL copied the league,” said Willson. “There is some merit to offence, but that was 20 years ago. That’s simply not the case anymore. Offences are the polar opposite of innovative. It’s not that they’re bad, but when you turn the film on, there’s nothing I have seen in six weeks. And I watch a lot.

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“It’s not something that blew my mind. Very simple concepts. Not a ton of motion to trick anyone, and defensively, very zone heavy. I get why with motion and four rushers and maybe five, and sometimes three, you get eight guys to drop back and not not many guys on planet earth who can throw against that.

“And not everybody in the CFL has a super-strong arm. A bit of a weird dynamic. If you don’t have that powerful arm, you can’t make that throw efficiently. The hash marks have been moved in, but it’s still a long way on a long field. There are poor innovations with the Xs and Os.”

Stopping clock after each play with three minutes left?

This one drives Willson crazy. The league says it’s to prevent teams from deliberately running out the clock and create more opportunities for comeback. Willson begs to differ big time. It takes away the steak and the sizzle.

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“I don’t like excessive amounts of QB sneaks, I don’t like missed field goals for a point, and unnecessary amount of penalties,” started Willson. “But the three-minute thing is the craziest take I can think of. When I think of a two-minute drill, I look at the intricacies. It used to be do coaches use or save a time-out? Do they play for the win or tie? So complex.

“Stopping the clock takes that out, not all of it, but a huge part. And if you’re down three touchdowns with two minutes left, you don’t deserve to win.”

In a parting moment of pure levity, Willson offered these summations after visiting Saskatoon for a University of Saskatchewan football function and then experiencing Regina.

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