Canadian Football League teams headed to Mexico City to evaluate talent

This weekend, Canadian Football League scouts and representatives are headed to Estadio Azul, a 33,000-seat stadium in Mexico City to evaluate and recruit some of the best football talent in Mexico.

Mexico’s Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional is hosting a combine on January 13 for leading pros and university seniors who hope to play in Canada, with a draft to follow on January 14.

The combine will showcase 45 athletes who will participate in the bench press (225 lbs), vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard dash, 3-cone, short shuttle and positional drills as well as interviews with representatives of CFL teams.

Randy Ambrosie, Commissioner of the CFL:

“We are really looking forward to this weekend’s combine. This is an exciting step forward for our partnership with the LFA and our international initiative.”

The league has set a course to expand its international footprint, and grow the game of football everywhere, and according to Ambrosie this is the first in a number of steps.

I liked this quote from @RandyAmbrosie on growing CFL internationally: "It was estimated that Yao Ming has had a billion-dollar impact on the NBA. We don't know where our Yao Ming is, but there's a CFL Yao Ming out there. Let's go get him."

— Joey Alfieri (@joeyalfieri) January 9, 2019

“We want to give the world’s top players access to our league and provide more young Canadians an opportunity to play and develop in other countries before possibly returning to play in the CFL.”

Prior to the 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw last month in Edmonton, the CFL and LFA signed a letter of intent that will see them work together on several projects including possible CFL games in Mexico.