Chris Morris, who was hired as the new president and CEO of the Edmonton Elks late last year, gave a press conference on Monday during which he said the club’s old moniker 13 times. One word he didn’t utter during his address was “Elks,” instead opening his comments on behalf of the “Double-E franchise.”
The 56-year-old has plenty of reasons to be proud of the team’s many accomplishments. He played along Edmonton’s offensive line for 14 seasons, helping them win three Grey Cups, and saw many of his collegiate players go on to join the franchise during his recent 12-year stint as the head coach at the University of Alberta.
The organization was once the pinnacle of all Canadian sport. Commonwealth Stadium opened in 1978 and Edmonton led the CFL in attendance for the first time only two years later. Over the next 36 years, the team led the league in attendance 26 times and won eight Grey Cups. The organization was rife with legends, including Hugh Campbell, Tom Wilkinson, Dan Kepley, Brian Kelly, Warren Moon, Dave Fennell, Hector Pothier, Willie Pless, Dale Potter, Ron Lancaster, Damon Allen, Leroy Blugh, Tracy Ham, Gizmo Williams, Ricky Ray, Jason Tucker, and Michael Reilly.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders eventually overtook Edmonton as the CFL’s flagship franchise, peaking with a home Grey Cup victory in 2013. The Green and White led the CFL in attendance for the first time ever that year, something they’d accomplish five more times before being surpassed by Winnipeg in 2022. The team had a winning culture, a beautiful new stadium, ultra-passionate fans, and championship pedigree.
They also had the same name they’d had when they were the sad sacks of the CFL. It wasn’t a name change that arbitrarily propelled the Roughriders to greatness. The moniker has remained the same for a century during incredible highs and pitiful lows.
The same is true for the Blue Bombers, a team that narrowly avoided bankruptcy 30 years ago and missed the playoffs eleven times from 1997 to 2015 — a remarkable feat considering the league only had eight teams most of those years. Winnipeg now has the league’s best crowds, highest profits, strongest community ties, and best on-field performance, appearing in five straight Grey Cups.
The team has changed stadiums and logos amid their rise to the top. The only thing that’s stayed the same is their name. They were the Blue Bombers when they stunk and they’re still the Blue Bombers now.
It’s almost as if a team’s name has no bearing on whether or not the franchise is successful.
Edmonton was never great because of their name. During the organization’s heyday, it had huge crowds, unshakable community ties, and a championship culture. This would have been true had they been named the Elephants, Eagles, Emus, Eels, or Earthworms.
Michael Reilly, the quarterback who most recently won a Grey Cup for Edmonton, was known as “Mike” for most of his playing career. In 2021, the last year of his playing career, he requested that he be called “Michael” to honour his late mother, who preferred that people call him by the name on his birth certificate.
This change didn’t erase any of Reilly’s accomplishments. It didn’t take away his Grey Cup ring, his M.O.P. award, his passing yards, or his touchdowns. He was still exactly the same guy, only with a different name. It’s not that complicated.
When Edmonton discontinued the use of its old moniker in 2020, nobody took away the organization’s 14 Grey Cup wins, records, legends, colours, logos, or uniforms.
It’s still the same team. It always has been.
Anyone who stopped buying tickets over something as trivial as a name change couldn’t have been a very dedicated fan anyway. Do these same people disown their daughters for changing their names when they get married? Of course not. Whatever her name is, she’s still your daughter.
With that said, fans in Edmonton have had plenty of legitimate reasons to stop buying tickets in recent years. The Elks have gone 18-50 since 2021 and missed the playoffs for four straight seasons. In 2023, the team set a professional sports record for the longest home losing streak at 22 games. Needless to say, that’s pathetic.
This lame run occurred due to a litany of mistakes the franchise made, none of which were related to the name of the team. Chris Presson, Jaime Elizondo, Brock Sunderland, and Chris Jones were all bad hires. Jason Maas, who has since led the Montreal Alouettes to a Grey Cup, should never have been fired. Taylor Cornelius shouldn’t have been given a high-priced, partially-guaranteed contract. Mathieu Betts should have been re-signed when his rookie contract expired. David Beard shouldn’t have been traded away. The list goes on.
When you hire the wrong people and they make a bunch of wrong decisions, it’s only a matter of time before the franchise struggles on and off the field.
This is what makes the rehiring of Dwayne Mandrusiak so smart. The soon-to-be 69-year-old spent 49 years with the club until he was unceremoniously let go in 2020, denying him his coveted 50th year with the organization. Though he was the equipment manager for most of his original run with the team, he is now going to serve as a community liaison and historian. It’s the perfect job for the perfect guy.
These are the types of moves that will bring Edmonton back to respectability. Mandrusiak is one of the reasons the team had such a special culture for decades. Special people are, well, special. They’re what create a winning culture, not some arbitrary name slapped on a sign or a helmet.
Morris made it clear that Edmonton will not formally return to the old moniker, though he said they will use it internally as a reminder of their past culture.
“It was a brotherhood, it was a way of doing things,” said Morris of the old sign (pictured) that’s being reinstalled above the locker room. “It was a sign that you were part of something bigger than yourselves, which made a difference not just on the field but in the community. It was the indoctrination of being part of something great.”
Here’s the thing: culture isn’t about names, signs, or miniature firetrucks that are occasionally driven into the bench of the opposing team. Culture is what you cultivate by doing the right things the right way every single day. It starts with hiring the right people — like Mandrusiak — and providing them with what they need in order to be successful. The next step is to work tirelessly while simultaneously fine-tuning workflow and best practices.
If all it took to create a winning culture was hanging a sign, every team would do it. Why practice or watch film when you can put up a few slogans? Heck, ditch the playbook — just hang a motivational poster in each player’s locker instead.
At the end of the day, Morris can do what he wants. He’s the president of the team and Larry Thompson, who bought the franchise last year, is clearly enamoured by its history. However, conflating a pseudo-name change with Mandrusiak’s return seems improper.
People are what make an organization great, not a name.
A winning culture must be built, not borrowed.
The post Opinion: Edmonton’s embrace of old name misses the point appeared first on 3DownNation.
