Jon Cornish, CFL MOP, also works as a bank teller

By Staff     Jul 1, 2014
    •

In case you’re not up to snuff on international holidays, today is a big one for our neighbors to the north.

Happy Canada Day.

[The Cleveland Cavaliers’ No. 1 NBA Draft pick, Andrew Wiggins,][1] from Vaughan, Ontario, won’t be the only Jayhawk celebrating.

So will British Columbia native Jon Cornish, the Canadian Football League’s 2013 Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Canadian and most prominent Jayhawk.

SI.com’s Monday Morning Quarterback recently featured the former Kansas University standout and Calgary Stampeders star running back in a story on how some CFL-ers take on normal jobs in the offseason.

[As Emily Kaplan wrote][2], Cornish actually works as a bank teller at a TD Canada Trust branch in Calgary not only in the offseason, but also in the midst of the CFL schedule.

[KU’s all-time single-season rushing leader][3] (1,457 yards in 2006) [broke his own CFL record last year][4] by running for 1,813 yards. Kaplan revealed that his MOP season included two six-hour shifts a week at the bank.

> “It’s a way I can get jumpstarted on
> my post-playing career,” Cornish told
> her. “But truth is, I really love both
> of my jobs.”

Obviously, you wouldn’t see NFL stars doing the same. [A 2013 Calgary Journal report][5] showed the average NFL player made 23 times more income ($1.9 million) than his average CFL counterpart ($80,000).

Cornish doesn’t have to work at the bank for income. I mean, the man has his own cereal.

He told Kaplan he used to spend his down time playing “way too many video games,” so he sought out a way to become more productive. His plan is to eventually become an investment manager.

> “Once my playing career is over, the
> revenue stream is going to stop. NFL
> players get a bit more of a cushion to
> fall back on. For the CFL, there’s a
> bit more of an urgency.”

Starting his eighth year with the Stampeders, [Cornish ran for 67 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 41 yards][6] in his 2014 debut, a 29-8 Calgary win over Montreal.

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/jun/26/destiny-achieved-andrew-wiggins-goes-no-1-nba-draf/?mens_basketball
[2]: http://mmqb.si.com/2014/06/26/cfl-offseason-jobs-jon-cornish-calgary-stampeders/
[3]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2013/nov/22/former-ku-great-jon-cornish-named-cfls-m/
[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pxdd5OaaJc
[5]: http://www.calgaryjournal.ca/index.php/sports/1538-professional-athletes-see-huge-gaps-in-salaries
[6]: http://www.stampeders.com/statistics/statsGame/id/12663

PREV POST

Chalmers, six other KU products hit free agency market
NEXT POST

44817Jon Cornish, CFL MOP, also works as a bank teller