He’s no Gale Sayers, but Canadian Jon Cornish may one day star for the Stamps
By George Johnson,
Calgary Herald
Long before there was Sweetness or Tony D. or Barry or LaDainian, there was Magic. Before Brian’s Song. Back more than three decades ago when Da Bears were Da Bums, there was No. 40.
More vapour than flesh, blood and bone. Chicago’s dazzling diamond in a barren landscape of formica. Able to reverse his field more spectacularly than Ralph Klein or Belinda Stronach.
“I’ve only seen a few highlights,” admits Jon Cornish. “He must’ve been a great back.”
You have no idea, son. Gale Sayers was only as good as it’s ever been. Take that as Sunday-goin’-to-meetin’ gospel.
And before he became a National Football League legend, Sayers was renowned as the Kansas Comet, and a Jayhawk legend at the university located in Lawrence.
Well, Jon Cornish scampered past the legend.
“I had set some goals in the summer, but I kept them to myself, didn’t mention them to the media, because they wouldn’t have believed me,” says Cornish. “But I knew, so there’s satisfaction in reaching those goals, in setting the record.
“No KU back had gone over a thousand yards for 10 years.
“It felt great.”
The school-record 1,457 yards Cornish slashed his way to last season was the ninth highest total in NCAA 1-A Division ball. Bypassed in the NFL draft, though, the 22-year-old, six-foot-two, 205-pounder from New Westminster, B.C., who tore apart the Big 12 in his senior year, arrives at Calgary Stampeders’ training camp in a couple of weeks ready to embark on a professional career.
The conference he played in, the yardage he piled up, his citizenship, the 121.2 average per game, that 5.8 a carry will all carry an inordinate amount expectation and scrutiny here.
In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Cornish ran the ball only three times for eight years. But 780 yards as a junior gave scouts a glimpse of the untapped potential.
Calgary chose him 13th overall in last year’s Canadian Football League draft.
And then he exploded into prominence.
“We were kind of surprised he didn’t go later in the draft,” says Stamps GM Jim Barker. “Just because of his special-teams abilities. He returns. Covers. He does it all.
“But he didn’t run as well at the combine as he’d have liked. He’s fast. But not super fast. He ran something like a 4.65 or 4.62. Other guys were in the 4.3s. We live in a day and age of numbers.
“He’s a different dude. A lot of guys make a big show of saying they won’t play in the NFL if they aren’t drafted, but he actually made good on that promise. A lot of kids go to school and, if they’re not starting by a certain time, they get frustrated and quit. Not this guy. He plugged away, waited for a chance and made the most of it. That tells you a lot about him.
“He turned down a lot of money to go to some NFL camps in order to come and play for us.”
Cornish shrugs off any perceived NFL slight. “I don’t hold any hard feelings, but I do feel sort of offended.
“That’s OK. I just want to play football. I’ve always taken a different path. I’ve never had people saying, ‘Oh, yeah, he’s The Guy’ right away. I wasn’t a starter until Grade 12. It wasn’t until my last year at (university) until I showed what I could really do. I’ve always had to work at it. Fight for reps.
“The Canadian kid who went to a Big 12 school . . . I guess I don’t do things easy. That’s fine. When I do get it done, it feels all the sweeter.”
The Cornish family, outside of Jon, wasn’t one of those stereotypical sports families, living for the next game or practice. And despite his birth certificate, Cornish says he was never much of a CFL fan growing up. He preferred watching U.S. college ball, or the NFL. He emulated Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Tyrell Davis of the Broncos.
Yet this league is the one in which his immediate future lies. The prospect of switching to a three-down game with motion on a bigger field doesn’t seem to be keeping the young man up nights.
“Some of the rules are different, and the field,” says Cornish, “but essentially football doesn’t change. I’m really interested to see how it goes.”
So, it goes without saying, are the Stamps.
“In this league, you’re only as good as your Canadian talent,” says Barker. “Having a guy like this brings us up a notch. He’s a potential starter in this league. How soon? When will it happen? Who knows? Usually, it takes time.
“I guess it’s up to Jon.”
Jon’s more than ready to find out.
He’s no Sayers — who could ever dream so big? — but anyone who could run past Magic even once makes you anxious for an up-close look-see.
“It’s weird, but I had a football dream last night,” reveals Cornish, rather sleepily. “Guess that means the time is close to start playing, rather than just working out. That’s good.
“The dream was about my first game in the Canadian league. My first game as a Calgary Stampeder. I don’t remember all the details — you know how dreams are — but it must’ve gone OK.
“I woke up smiling.”
