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Don’t get me wrong. Everything that needed to be done for Ray when he was injured was done and done well. The game was halted. Great care was taken to stabilize him while he was carried from the field to immediate medical attention. But it’s what happens in the weeks and months that follow that is so critical.

In Ray’s case, and many others, their care has strict limits. Team-provided care is limited to a year from the date of injury if the player retires or is released.

After that year, things change. Team-funded care and rehabilitation ends. However, if an injury is severe, more surgeries and rehabilitation will be required, care that someone else will have to provide.

For Canadian players, many turn to the public health care system. For our American players, they are on the hook for very expensive medical treatment. In either case, their circumstance raises serious questions about responsibility. After all, these injuries are workplace injuries and in every other workplace, the employer is held responsible for workplace injuries and our workers’ compensation systems ensure that care and rehabilitation is provided.

Professional football players should be no exception. They are paid to do a job, but in the CFL their employers are trying to dodge their full responsibilities.

That’s why the Canadian Football League Players’ Association is calling for change and pressing the league to take better care of injured players. Abandoning those players to find the care they need after a year is an unacceptable practice that must end.