The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOR the past four years, Karl McCartney has been carrying the Bahamian flag in the Canadian Football League after the retirement of Godfrey Ellis, the first Bahamian to play professionally in Canada.

Drafted in 2010 by the Calgary Stampeders with the 37th pick overall in the fifth round out of Saint Mary’s Huskies, the six-foot, 215-pound 26-year-old linesman is home for the off-season before he returns to Alberta, Canada, to prepare for his fifth season in May.

“So far, things have been going very well,” said McCartney of his tenure in the league. “I play on special teams and I get some play on defence, so I can’t complain, everything has been going well.”

So far, McCartney has produced the following highlights:

• Led the Stampeders with 19 special-teams tackles in 2010.

• Led the Stampeders and was third in the CFL with 23 special-teams tackles in 2012.

• Tied for second-most tackles for loss on the Stampeders in 2011 with three despite missing 11 games.

• In his first career game on July 1, 2010, he dropped Cleo Lemon of the Toronto Argonauts for his first career sack.

• Recorded his first career tackle-for-loss on a two-yard drop of Montreal’s Avon Cobourne on October 11, 2010.

After enjoying three productive seasons, McCartney played in 11 games and had 11 defensive tackles, including a tackle for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, 14 special-teams tackles and a knockdown. He was placed on the one-game injury list for Games 8-14. McCartney was on the reserve list for the Western Final.

While McCartney didn’t get an opportunity to play in the National Football League (NFL), he’s making the best of his career in the CFL. “The NFL is a different animal. Obviously, the pay is more and the time is a lot more,” he said. “But I look at the CFL as playing in college. They only demand four hours a day, so it’s almost like a 30-hour work week. But it’s fun at the same time and not so demanding. So you can have fun while you are playing. It’s not a job actually. It’s a job, but it’s a fun job.”

Before Ellis made his departure, he and McCartney played together with the Stampeders. Ironically, the first year that McCartney made his debut in 2010 was the same year that Ellis made his exit.

“We actually played together for a few months,” said McCartney of Ellis, who has since gotten married to a Canadian and now resides in Canada where he’s working in the oil industry. “He came straight from the Bahamas and went to college, but I went to school in Canada so I had a little more football experience than he did.

“But when you reach the top at any level, it’s a great feeling to know what you have accomplished. My goal is to give back and get more guys to follow in me and Godfrey’s footsteps as they make a living and have fun playing football. I know we have some guys in the pipeline that Holland College has recruited and are in the system. So the future looks bright in the CFL.”

Even though he’s not yet ready to hang up his gear, McCartney said he’s hoping to be around long enough to welcome the next football player in the CFL, just as Ellis was able to pave the way for him when he came along.

“We have a lot of great athletes in the Bahamas and football is all about getting seen,” McCartney said. “Once we can get these guys seen, I’m sure that they will take advantage of their opportunity as me and Godfrey did. I’m on the latter years of my years, but I want to be there to help pave the way for those who are coming up behind me.”

On Saturday, McCartney assisted Holland College in their mini-camp hosted in the Roscoe Davies Developmental Centre at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

Holland College, which already boasts of having 11 players on its roster, was in town to recruit some more players to play for the Hurricanes in the Atlantic Football League in Canada.