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Originally published April 29, 2007 at 05:15p.m., updated April 29, 2007 at 06:09p.m.

Cornish to play for CFL’s Calgary Stampeders

By Ryan Wood

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Former Kansas University running back Jon Cornish is turning down multiple NFL undrafted free-agent offers to join the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

The Stampeders drafted Cornish in the second round of last year's draft and retained his rights. Since Cornish went undrafted in the NFL Draft this weekend, he'll head up north after finishing up his psychology degree in May.

"I'm going to get to relax a little bit," Cornish said of his immediate schedule. "If I was going to the (NFL), I'd be going to camps. But for the CFL I'm going to go up there in late May."

Cornish is a native of British Columbia, making him eligible for the CFL Draft a year ago. The Stampeders have kept in close contact with him in the last few months, sending representitives to the East-West Shrine Game in Houston and retaining strong interest in their local pick.

Cornish sounded upbeat about his decision. As for his family back in Canada...

"They're pretty excited," Cornish said with a laugh.

**********

Jon Cornish, who last season set the Kansas University single season rushing record, was not selected on Sunday, when the fourth through seventh rounds of the 2007 NFL Draft were conducted in New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Cornish, who was selected after last season in the Canadian Football League Draft by the Calgary Stampeders, now will explore his options as far as potentially signing with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent. The Stampeders still own his rights in the CFL, should he decide to play north of the border next season.

Receiver Brian Murph and defensive tackle Rodney Allen, fellow KU seniors who also had chances of being late draft picks, also went untapped.

Notable local players selected on Sunday included Kansas State running back Thomas Clayton (6th round, San Francisco), K-State linebacker Zach Diles (7th Round, Houston), Missouri linebacker Brian Smith (4th round, Jacksonville) and Washburn defensive tackle Trey Lewis (6th round, Atlanta).

For more on this story, read tomorrow's Lawrence Journal-World and check back at KUSports.com.

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Comments

  1. Jimmy_Dean (anonymous) says…

    His forty time at the combine is what killed him. Although I don't understand how Thomas Clayton gets drafted when he doesn't even play most of the year. Hog Wash!

  2. sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says…

    I don't understand why the Chefs drafted a back that was roughly the same size & had simliar numbers ...

    ***
    BIG XII schools & number of players drafted:
    Baylor - 2, cu 2, isu - 1, ksu - 3, mu - 1, nu - 4, ou -3, Okie St - 2, UT - 7, Tech - 3 ...

    So A&M and KU were the only ones without anyone taken, that's TWO years in a row for us not to have anyone taken ... maybe more, can't recall at the moment.

    I'm not sure what to make of it, but I wish the Canadian Comet the best of luck - perhaps he may still wind up in the NFL!

  3. FlaHawk (anonymous) says…

    Just means that Mangino does not get much talent and does an adequate job with what he gets. KU FB athletes are NOT nearly athletical enough for the NFL!

    Give Mangino some credit and also be realistic that KU will enver be a top 30 FB program. KU can be competitive, but will never be stellar, year in year out!

  4. kylecisnum1 (anonymous) says…

    as dissapointed as i am that noone drafted him, im still stoked that he will be on a roster somewhere. hope to hear more out of canada in the near future.

  5. sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says…

    well Flahawk, i'd like to think "sum of the parts greater than the whole," or something like that ... i'd like to see KU compete for the North every so often and make bowls on a regular basis ...

    if you look at my old posts, you'll see i have little faith left in our men's basketball program, so i have to hold on to something ...

  6. Jimmy_Dean (anonymous) says…

    FlaHawk-If Boise State can win a BCS bowl I see no reason we cant be one of the top 30 football programs in the country. Why dont you think KU can be a top 30 program?

  7. JBurtin (anonymous) says…

    Because (as I've noted before) right now it's safer for someone to predict failure for the Jayhawks than to predict success. But if a team from the middle of nowhere Kansas that wears chick colors (purple and white) can put together a perineal top ten team, so can the Jayhawks.

    He probably just doesn't want to stick his neck out emotionally for a team when he knows that there's a chance that it'll get cut off. As for me, I'm keeping the faith that the athletic department finally has its head screwed on straight when it comes to taking football seriously at Kansas. They've shown over the last several years that they are willing to sacrafice to make this team one of the nation's elite (new facilities, actually paying their coach, etc...). I understand their plan of action and I believe that it will pay off in the end.

  8. halvhawk (anonymous) says…

    although i am a huge fan and watch any and every game we play on tv...and have even made a 4 hour trek once a year to watch a game at memorial...please dont compare us to boise state from last year...they woulda handled us...can you imagine that wide open offense against our pass defense form last year?

  9. freak2304 (anonymous) says…

    It's a rediculous statement to make in today's college sports world that any school could NEVER be a top 25 team. Especially with as weak as the Big 12 North is, all it would take was to win your first 4 non-conference fluffs, win 4 out of the 5 north games (Mizzou, Iowa St., Colorado, and K-State most likely), and even just one south game, and finish with a 9-3 record in a major conference.

  10. fabio (anonymous) says…

    Im pretty sure what he means is if a school out of the WAC that is in the middle of Idaho can figure out a way to be great program we should be able to. I doubt he was comparing the two teams but comparing the two programs. Correct me if Im wrong.

  11. bmcmich1 (anonymous) says…

    It IS a totally ridiculous statement to say that KU Football will never be a top 25, let alone top 30 team. Flahawk's attitude shown in the above post is exactly what makes me sick about some KU fans--the whole 'doom and gloom' apathetic attitude about KU Football has to stop. If we get behind this program and end all the "we suck" garbage then I assure you we won't be disappointed.

    For the most part our Football team is a bunch of overachieving guys who work their TAILS off to compete at a BXII level, have to fight for every win, and on top of that, have to fight to get even an inkling of support from KU people too busy worrying about Basketball all year long. They are a bunch of everyday, hard-working, likable guys who are really easy to get behind--give 'em a chance and I swear you'll get hooked on rooting for them, lamenting the tough losses over some beers in the parking lot and celebrating the wins like a championship over even more beers.

    What's more, you talk about sticking your neck out emotionally with the risk of being let down?????? What about every freakin' basketball season for the past 19 years!!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love KU Basketball too, and I say this semi-jokingly, but at least it's only been two years since the Football team ended their season with a win!! I know there's more of you out there, but I've particularly noticed fabio and sevenyear expressing their passion for Kansas Football, JBurtin has posted some positive things...and if there are more of you out there, let yourselves be heard--post on these boards so we can have some lively discussion about our 'Hawk Football team!!

  12. beebe1 (anonymous) says…

    I agree. We have to bear with our disappointments. I think Cornish didn't get a fair shake. He should have had more support from the offensive co-ordinator and Mangino. We had inconclusive support help from the Defensive Co-ordinator as well. It will take a while; there have been some geniuses out there doing creative football work. Our staff is OK, but I think that Mangino missed a chance to get a first rate guy. And, I have suggested we cut Mangino's pay about $400,000 and split it between two genius co-ordinators! The breaks are too great between the top man and the co-ordinators, not only here but elsewhere as well. With a top staff, why should there be a $1.2 mil break between the top three people? If you pay well enough, you could keep your staff and not spend your time recruiting guys to go elsewhere for a top job!

    It may take a while, but we can develop into a competitive team!

  13. bmcmich1 (anonymous) says…

    Very good points--Mangino has never been a very good "rah-rah" promoter, and that is what middle-of-the road college football players need: a coaching staff that will totally pimp a player to the NFL, creating all kinds of hype (whether it be real or not) around him. Since his O-Coordinator was leaving, the onus pretty much fell on him to promote his running back, and I don't think he really did. For a guy to rush for over 1,600 yds. and not get drafted is ludicrous--it must mean that his coaches did next to nothing to promote him to the right people in the league.

  14. fabio (anonymous) says…

    Great post bmcmich. It frustrates the hell out of me that there are so many KU fans that think its impossible for us to be a successfull football program. I just dont get it. I cant believe so many fans are content with just having a good basketball program.
    Like someone on here said earlier. Bill Snyder went to Manhattan, Kansas and took maybe the worst program in the country and made them great for a time. But for some reason just a few miles down the road you have all these KU fans saying it could never happen here.
    Am I missing something here?

  15. bmcmich1 (anonymous) says…

    No, you're not missing a darn thing, man--and for what it's worth I think it's great that someone out there shares my viewpoint on 'Hawk Football!--the problem for a long time was that you had fans AND higher-ups in the Athletic Dept. who said it could never happen. Snyd-o down the road proved that theory dead wrong. Now, we have an athletic staff who is getting behind Football because Lew gets it--he's a businessman and (obvioulsy) he's trying to generate more $ for the Department. How do you do that? football. football. football. That is your moneymaker, and Lew gets it. That's why you see the initiative taken on his behalf to show that KU can pay a coach big time $, build football-only facilities, etc...

    The problem, then, lies in the fans that still don't believe in KU Football. As evidenced by Flahawk's post, there are still people out there who poo-poo the Football program and just go by the record and stats of the last 12 yrs. to form their opinion. To truly understand how great it really is to be a 'Hawk Football fan you have to have at least been at Memorial for a game or two over the past couple of years, or been there when Brian Luke capped an amazing comeback against Iowa State two years ago, or been in Ft. Worth to see Charlton Kieth pick off a pass and score it and see Brian Murph return the opening kick, or see Todd Reesing come in and lead us to a win against Colorado last year, or see the pure speed and potential of Jake Sharp...I could go on and on. I only hope everyone who is writing KU Football off will get out to a game this fall, see the action, and eat his words.