EDMONTON - My first job was selling ice cream in the stands at Commonwealth Stadium.

I wasn’t the best ice cream salesman. I’d often stop at the top of the lower bowl and watch the game, but I was lucky enough to watch, err, I mean work, every game of the 1987 Edmonton Eskimos’ season.

They were an exciting team, and won the Grey Cup with a thrilling 38-36 victory over the Toronto Argonauts.

In his second Canadian Football League season, Henry (Gizmo) Williams emerged as a star. Matt Dunigan and Damon Allen played quarterback. Brian Kelly and Stephen Jones were the receivers.

But the backbone of the offence was the offensive line that protected Dunigan and Allen. It was anchored by Rod Connop, Hec Pothier, Bill Stevenson and Blake Dermott.

The best way to protect the quarterback is to build a great offensive line, like the 1987 Eskimos.

However, the number of injured starting quarterbacks in the early weeks of the current CFL season shows something is not working.

Penalizing defensive players for hitting the quarterback, while necessary and wise, is not the most effective way to protect the QB. Right now, the CFL ratio rules that mandate the number of Canadian players limit teams from protecting their highest-paid assets.

The league should look at altering the ratio.

From 1950 to 1981, the average CFL salary was higher than the average NFL salary. The best Canadians played in the CFL; they didn’t think of playing down south. NFL salaries started to increase due to player strikes in 1982 and 1987, and with competition from the defunct United States Football League.

Today, the disparity in money between the NFL and CFL is enormous and many Canadian players are willing to bypass a guaranteed starting job in the CFL just for an NFL training camp tryout.

The current rules state that each CFL team must have a minimum of 21 nationals (Canadians) on the 44-man roster and seven must be starters.

The good news is amateur football is producing more quality Canadians at every position on the field, but there is still a massive emphasis on offensive linemen who can start.

Unfortunately, players like Matt O’Donnell, Ben Heenan and Brett Jones left their CFL teams this past off-season for a shot in the NFL. They joined fellow Canadian offensive linemen Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Austin Pasztor and David Foucault.

It is great to see Canadians getting a shot in the NFL, but CFL teams didn’t lose three starting American O-lineman to the NFL. You can find internationals to replace those players who leave for the NFL, but there is simply not enough quality national offensive linemen to fill the void.

The CFL has reached a point where a birth certificate shouldn’t guarantee players a starting job or major raise. The best players should start.

Some observers will point out that many teams have started more than seven Canadians in the past. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had nine national starters when the won the 2013 Grey Cup. But what happens when those national players aren’t the best players?

When Heenan left Saskatchewan for the Indianapolis Colts, the Roughriders had to give pending unrestricted free agent Dan Clark a 140-per-cent raise because they had no other Canadians who could replace him. Clark had started 10 games in 2014 and was a solid O-lineman, but his raise was based on a shallow talent pool ahead of ability.