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Jim Mullin is stepping away from Football Canada to concentrate on his post with the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).

Mullin confirmed Monday that after six years as Football Canada’s president, he is resigning from the post. His decision came hours before the national governing body’s annual general meeting.

“I believe now I can leave the organization in the capable hands of executive director Kevin McDonald, board chairperson Peter Baxter and the staff,” said Mullin. “I wouldn’t have left unless the organization’s future had leaders who could steward it to a new professional function.

“We’re taking an organization from the kitchen table to the boardroom table.”

Mullin will remain as IFAF’s general secretary.

McDonald was named Football Canada’s full-time executive director in June, while Baxter became the organization’s chairperson in August.

Before joining Football Canada, McDonald spent nearly 20 years with the CFL in various positions, including its vice-president of football operations.

“Someone who has a lot of experience as a leader in the CFL is who I want on the ground operating the organization on a day-to-day basis,” Mullin said of McDonald. “I think he can take it to where it needs to be as one of the (national sports organizations) and as an Olympic NSO that stand with the best of them.”

Baxter served as Wilfrid Laurier University’s director of athletics and recreation for over 23 years before retiring in 2022.

He’ll be Football Canada’s president until bylaws are updated in October.

“Peter is someone with tremendous integrity who understands the challenges of governance in this space,” Mullin said. “He’ll be able to respond to the new landscapes that exist in sports in Canada with its various landmines and be able to diffuse them.”

Mullin’s decision comes three months after Canada captured a third straight and fourth overall gold medal at the IFAF world junior football championship in Edmonton. It was the first tournament staged in six years due to the global pandemic.

There were plenty of challenges in getting the event back on the field. Football Canada also had to add a second team to replace a country that withdrew.

“Quite frankly, many nations were skittish about jumping back into international tackle competition,” Mullin said. “It takes money, it takes extraordinary planning and it helps when you have partners like (executive director) Tim Enger and Football Alberta to put all of that planning into it.”

The organization navigated a coaching change ahead of the tournament, promoting Warren Craney to head coach of Canada 1. He replaced Steve Sumarah, who led the program to gold in 2018.

“There were many changes we needed to put through from a Football Canada side and identifying Warren Craney to take over turned out to be the right choice,” Mullin said. “I get to leave my final year with a world championship, which is pretty nice.”

Mullin spent eight years with Football Canada, two on its board and six as president. He was first elected to the position in 2019 before being voted in for a second term in 2022.

Mullin is the fourth person to serve multiple stints as president in Football Canada’s 142-year history. A big part of the job was trying to establish consensus on national matters within an organization that consists of multiple provincial bodies.

During his time with Football Canada and IFAF, Mullin also worked to get flag football into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The sport’s inclusion is big for football globally, he said.

Mullin also helped Football Canada modernize its operation, comply with the Canadian Sports Governance Code, establish a reserve fund and develop Indigenous football in the country.

“Something I did coming out of the gate when I was voted in was creating a larger tent for football in Canada,” he said. “It wasn’t just about the (provincial sports organizations), it was about the sport in general so bringing in a path for associate members was extremely important.

“Working with Indigenous leaders, over quite frankly a long period of time, to be there to help them get Indigenous Football Canada started and off the ground was very rewarding. Working with (president/CEO) Kevin Hart and then seeing him and his people deliver that and create something I believe that’s sustainable over the long-term is another culture change within the sport.”

However, Mullin admits he’ll leave Football Canada with a regret.

“The core regret is we had to be reactive during the pandemic and that really took us away from our plan,” he said. “At the same time, I wish the reforms we brought forward in the last 18 months were brought along a lot sooner because we’d be ahead on things.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

TORONTO – Hall of Fame hockey player Mark Messier will be among the on-air talent for Amazon’s new NHL broadcast.

Amazon has unveiled its plans for “Prime Monday Night Hockey,” which include Messier working as an analyst for select games.

The broadcast team will also include hosts Andi Petrillo, formerly of CBC Sports, and Adnan Virk, who’s worked for TSN, ESPN and the MLB Network.

Analysis will come from Blake Bolden, Thomas Hickey, Shane Hnidy and Jody Shelley, while play-by-play will be done by former NHL on NBC talent John Forslund.

Shows will be broadcast live from the home team’s arena, starting Oct. 14 when the Montreal Canadiens host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre.

Alongside traditional pre-game, intermission and post-game segments, “Prime Monday Night Hockey” will include an interactive feature where viewers who missed part of the game can catch up by watching a two-minute highlight package compiled by machine learning.

On Thursdays, Petrillo will host a studio show called “NHL Coast to Coast” featuring highlights, expert analysis and interviews with players, coaches and commentators.

Amazon also announced Monday that its six-part documentary “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL” will begin streaming on Oct. 4.

The series features both on-ice and behind-the-scenes moments with some of the league’s biggest stars, including Edmonton Oilers superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander, and Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes.

Amazon and Rogers Communications announced back in April that the companies had reached a deal that will see all national regular-season Monday NHL games in Canada streamed in English on Prime Video for the next two seasons.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Southern California football star Reggie Bush has filed a lawsuit against his school, the NCAA and the Pac-12 in a bid to recoup money made on his name, image and likeness during his career with the Trojans two decades ago.

In a brief news release from Bush’s attorneys announcing the filing Monday, the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback’s representatives claim he should be paid “to address and rectify ongoing injustices stemming from the exploitation of Reggie Bush’s name, image, and likeness during his tenure as a USC football player.”

“This case is not just about seeking justice for Reggie Bush,” attorney Evan Selik said in a statement. “It’s about setting a precedent for the fair treatment of all college athletes. Our goal is to rectify this injustice and pave the way for a system where athletes are rightfully recognized, compensated and treated fairly for their contributions.”

Bush was one of the most exciting players in recent college football history during his three years at USC from 2003-05 while winning two national titles and the Heisman. He went on to an 11-year NFL career.

Bush forfeited his Heisman in 2010 after USC was hit with massive sanctions partly related to Bush’s dealings with two aspiring sports marketers. The Heisman Trust restored the honor earlier this year and returned the trophy to Bush, citing fundamental changes in the structure of college athletics over the past 14 years.

Bush is still pursuing the separate defamation lawsuit he filed against the NCAA last year over the governing body’s 2021 characterization of the circumstances that led to Bush’s troubles.

It’s unclear how the new lawsuit will affect Bush’s relationship with USC, which had been particularly warm this year.

The school was ordered to disassociate from Bush for 10 years after the 2010 NCAA ruling, but USC had welcomed back Bush and hailed the return of his Heisman Trophy while returning his No. 5 to its place of honor among USC’s eight banners for its Heisman winners on the Peristyle at the Coliseum. Bush was scheduled to lead the current Trojans out of the Coliseum tunnel at an undetermined game later this season.

“We appreciate that the new administration at USC is trying to pick up the pieces of the former administrations’ unjust and improper handling of Reggie Bush,” Levi McCathern, the attorney also handling Bush’s separate lawsuit against the NCAA. “However, the delay in fixing this speaks volumes.”

USC didn’t immediately return a request from The Associated Press for comment on Bush’s new filing.

Bush is only the latest former athlete to seek compensation through the courts this year for their prior athletic careers under the new rules in college athletics.

Denard Robinson and Braylon Edwards were among several former Michigan stars who sued the NCAA and the Big Ten Network earlier this month. In June, a group of 10 players on NC State’s 1983 NCAA championship-winning basketball team sued the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company to seek compensation for use of their names, images and likenesses.

The NCAA and major college conferences are currently attempting to settle three antitrust lawsuits related to NIL compensation for athletes. There is a settlement agreement in place to pay $2.78 billion to hundreds of thousands of college athletes.

The NCAA changed its rules in 2021 to allow athletes to make money through sponsorship and endorsement deals after fiercely fighting against it for decades.

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