Cal Sports Report

Cal Football: Kenny Lawler's `Catch of the Year' Can't Save CFL's Edmonton Elks

Lawler has been productive but Edmonton resides in last place in the league.

Jeff Faraudo

Cal Football: Kenny Lawler's `Catch of the Year' Can't Save CFL's Edmonton Elks
Cal Football: Kenny Lawler's `Catch of the Year' Can't Save CFL's Edmonton Elks /

Things couldn’t be going better for Kenny Lawler.

Things couldn’t be going worse for the ex-Cal wide receiver.

A spectacular catch . . . another loss . . . an injury that could put him on the shelf for a while with the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League.

Lawler, in his third CFL season, is coming off his most productive game of the season, catching three passes for 146 yards — a whopping 48.7 yards per catch — in the Elks’ 25-18 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday.

And that’s the problem. Edmonton is one of the CFL’s worst teams, 3-8 and alone in last place in the West Division. The Elks are 0-7 against division rivals and have now lost 13 consecutive home games.

Lawler, who played for the Bears from 2013 through ’15, won a pair of CFL championships with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — in 2019 and ’21 with no 2020 season due to COVID-19.

Then, last offseason, the 28-year-old signed a $300,000 free-agent contract to play with the Edmonton Elks. The deal made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the CFL.

Winnipeg has hardly missed the star receiver. The Blue Bombers are 10-1 and atop the West standings.

On Saturday, Lawler caught passes from quarterback Tony Cornelius that covered 54, 50 and 42 yards. To pull in the 42-yarder, Lawler extended fully horizontal to the turf, outstretched his arms and made a fingertip grab that the Edmonton Sun labeled as a catch-of-the-year candidate in the CFL.

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Lawler made another outstanding catch in the same game:

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He didn’t play in the fourth quarter after suffering an ankle injury that initially was not considered serious.  But subsequent reports suggest the injury might be more serious.

The Elks don’t play their next game until Monday at Calgary, but Lawler seems unlikely to be available.

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Lawler is once again one of the top receivers in the CFL. His 56 catches are tied for third most in the league and his 849 yards are tied for second. He has five touchdown receptions.

Although his team is not winning, Lawler has upped his production in recent weeks. Through the Elks’ first seven games he had 40 catches for 482 yards, averaging 12.1 per reception. Over the past four games, he’s made 16 catches for 367 yards and a 22.9-yard average.

In his three CFL seasons, Lawler has 163 receptions for 2,500 yards (15.3) with 15 touchdowns.

Cover photo of Kenny Lawler courtesy of CFL.ca

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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