Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ receiver Tim White believes he makes superstar plays on the football field in the CFL.
“If you go and you look at Jerry Rice, you go and you look at Randy Moss: what’s the difference from the plays that they’re making that I’m making?” White said rhetorically. “When I sit there and I watch their film I’m like: ‘I do some… if you want someone to go 70 yards for a touchdown, make three guys miss and go 70 consistently, there you go.’ If that guy’s making superstar plays, what’s stopping the league from having a superstar? Nothing, we have superstars here.”
After bursting on the CFL scene in 2021, the five-foot-nine, 175-pound playmaker has been named a CFL all-star for three straight seasons. He’s averaged 81 receptions, 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns over the last three years while leading the three-down league with 94 receptions in 2022, leading the league with 1,269 receiving yards in 2023 and only Eugene Lewis had more touchdown grabs last season.
“When I hear the word superstar, today you think of the current players. You’re looking at basketball, you’re looking at Ja Morant. If you’re looking in the NFL, you’re thinking Justin Jefferson. If you’re looking in the WNBA, you’re thinking Angel Reese. Those are all superstars in their own leagues and professions,” White said.
“When I hear superstar, I’m thinking that we definitely have superstar talent. That means we have the ability to be superstars. I feel like from that point on, it’s really about how we’re being marketed and promoted. I feel like that has a big sequence in how the people see us in Canada. It’s sustained success, but it is definitely impact as well.”
The 30-year-old elite athlete thinks superstars need to move the game forward, leave a league in a better place than it was found. White does not want to hold the CFL back, instead he chooses to believe superstars can be produced and manufactured. His view comes from a place where leagues and teams need to be able to develop superstars.
“Do you have any guys on your team that you believe can be the start of building a superstar? That guy may not end up being the superstar, but it might further for the next guy to be the superstar. I feel like in order to do that, you gotta be able to promote our personalities and lifestyle. That’s what’s gonna continue to push the league forward,” White said.
“Eventually, you have to say: ‘How can we start building the game forward and continue to push it forward?’ The only way to do that is to believe in the guys that you have. We’ve all been in locker rooms where there’s Lamar Jacksons and there’s big names. The ability difference is not much different. So what’s making them a superstar versus us a superstar? It’s how they perceive you.”
If the CFL builds more players up to superstar status as White described, he feels it could lead to an increase in talent coming across the border. He earned approximately $560,000 USD in the NFL after stints with the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets and New Orleans Saints. The Arizona State University graduate signed with the Ticats in March 2021.
“You might get a young guy that’s like: ‘I’m pretty dang talented, but the NFL hasn’t given me this opportunity. I can have a great life in the CFL going to Canada.’ Might wanna stay here, help build the game, be that star and build off that,” White said.
“I feel like you can’t continue to take away from us as players and take away from the game. If you don’t have superstars, then go get some. How can we get some superstars? How can we make some superstars? Can we produce superstars? Those are the questions that you should ask as a league, as an organization.”
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