Cornish joins Canadian Football League

Monday, April 30, 2007

Jon Cornish will play professional football this season — just not in the United States.

After not being selected in this weekend’s NFL Draft, Cornish, a former Kansas running back, has reportedly turned down NFL free agent offers to sign with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

The Stampeders retained the rights to Cornish after selecting him in the second round of last year’s CFL Draft, despite the fact that he returned to play his senior season. Cornish is a native of New Westminster, British Columbia.

nutgraf

At the NFL Scouting Combine and the Kansas Pro Day, Cornish posted 40-yard dash times in the 4.5 to 4.6 second range. Elite running back prospects ran the same distance in anywhere from 4.3 to 4.5 seconds.

Cornish will begin his CFL career after the end of the spring semester so he can finish his communications degree. CFL training camps begin in May and the regular season starts in June.

Repeated attempts to contact Cornish were unsuccessful.

Cornish was projected by some NFL Draft experts to be a sixth- or seventh-round pick. His fall off the draft board could be attributed to teams selecting lowly regarded running backs like Thomas Clayton and Justin Hairston over Cornish. Clayton played just five games in his senior season at Kansas State under first-year coach Ron Prince. Hairston was a relative unknown from Division I-AA Central Connecticut.

Cornish enjoyed great success as a running back in his final two seasons at Kansas, but many NFL talent evaluators thought him too slow to be a major contributor at the professional level.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, Cornish said he expected to be selected in the sixth or seventh round. If he was not taken, he said he would try to sign with an NFL team as a free agent.

Cornish’s list of feats at Kansas is a long one. He set the Kansas single-season rushing record in 2006 with 1.427 yards, in the process leading the Big 12 Conference in rushing. As a senior he received All-Big 12 First Team honors and averaged 5.8 yards per carry, a Jayhawk record.

Overall, 28 former Big 12 players were selected. Texas sent seven players to the NFL, the most of any Big 12 school.

Kansan sportswriter Asher Fusco can be contacted at afusco@kansan.com.

— Edited by Ryan Schneider

Cornish returns to Canada

Native Canadian Jon Cornish will continue his football career in Calgary, Alberta, ...

/news/2007/may/01/cornish/

Cornish appears at scouting combine

Former Kansas running back was one of over 300 players who participated ...

/news/2007/mar/05/football_brief/

Cornish finds success in CFL

Former Kansas running back contributes to Stampeders on special teams and in ...

/news/2008/sep/03/morningbrew/

Two Jayhawks sign free agent contracts

Holt will join the San Diego Chargers, Rivera the Chicago Bears.

/news/2009/apr/28/free_agents/

Former KU star follows title chase

Remember when then-senior running back Jon Cornish set Kansas’ single-season rushing record ...

/news/2007/nov/08/Cornish/

Cornish a surprise for football offense

/news/2005/oct/05/sp_football/

Former Jayhawks look to soar in NFL

FedEx Orange Bowl MVP Aqib Talib taken in first round; also drafted ...

/news/2008/apr/28/nfl_draft/

Davison: Football program shows lack of stars

With a continual lack of NFL players, the Kansas football program might ...

/news/2007/apr/27/davison/

Breaking down Jayhawk NFL Draft prospects

A closer look at the Kansas players up for the NFL Draft.

/news/2008/apr/25/breaking_down_jayhawk_nfl_draft_prospects/

Jorgensen: Why wasn’t Cornish drafted?

Coaches need to find some way to recruit top players to bring ...

/news/2007/may/03/jorgensen/

Former Kansas football player shows speed at ...

/news/2005/mar/01/sports_footbal_brief/

Fusco: NFL less than generous to Jayhawks

Aqib Talib and James McClinton might have deserved better pro bids.

/news/2008/apr/29/nfl_offers_appear_less_epic_kansas/

Rankings for the KU-KSU football game

/news/2005/oct/07/sp_gameday/

Former University linebacker competes at the NFL ...

Despite his so-so results, Steven Johnson’s interviews and attitude may earn him ...

/news/2012/feb/27/linebacker-combine/

Refresh your team with these players

The Kansan’s Fantasy Football writer Kelly Breckunitch suggests some less-popular players that ...

/news/2007/aug/21/fantasy/

Offensive pieces have fallen into place

The addition of offensive coordinator Ed Warinner has proven beneficial for Kansas, ...

/news/2007/oct/02/offensive_pieces_have_fallen_place/

Four Jayhawks NFL-bound

Talib was the second cornerback taken in the NFL Draft.

/news/2008/apr/27/talib_drafted_tampa_bay/

Riggins to be honored at home opener

John Riggins led the Jayhawks to the Orange Bowl while at KU. ...

/news/2007/aug/23/riggins/

Stuckey, Briscoe headline draft hopefuls

NFL draft begins tonight at 6:30.

/news/2010/apr/22/stuckey-briscoe-headline-draft-hopefuls/

Former players invited to NFL Combine

Dezmon Briscoe, Kerry Meier and Darrell Stuckey will work out in front ...

/news/2010/feb/16/former-players-invited-nfl-combine/

Football report card: October 17, 2007

Sportswriter Asher Fusco evaluates the Jayhawks performance thus far this season

/news/2007/oct/17/report_card/

Kealing: Talib brings notoriety to football

Talib has the potential to be the first Jayhawk drafted in the ...

/news/2007/may/03/kealing/

Brew: Chiefs need to replace Cassel with ...

Pat Strathman on four top quarterback draft prospects that the Kansas City ...

/news/2011/sep/29/brew-chiefs-cassel-top-draft-pick/

Stuckey selected in NFL draft's fourth round

San Diego drafted safety Darrell Stuckey with the 12th pick in the ...

/news/2010/apr/24/stuckey-selected-nfl-drafts-fourth-round/

Lineman impresses scouts

/news/2005/apr/22/sports_football_draft/

Jayhawks show their NFL potential

Kansas held its pro day Wednesday for pro football scouts

/news/2011/mar/16/jayhawks-show-their-nfl-potential/

Briscoe declares for NFL draft

After consulting his mother and staff members, the wide receiver decides to ...

/news/2009/dec/07/briscoe-declares-nfl-draft/

Jayhawks lose two All-Americans, assistant coach

Aqib Talib and Anthony Collins are headed for the NFL Draft, and ...

/news/2008/jan/07/jayhawks_lose_talib_wide_receivers_coach/

Morning Brew: Fantasy football pickups

Surprise players are already becoming clear just three weeks into the NFL ...

/news/2010/sep/29/morning-brew-fantasy-football-pickups/

Brew: Jayhawks in the pros

Even through the current Kansas football woes, remember that Jayhawks have made ...

/news/2011/oct/31/jayhawks-pros/

Wheeler: Jayhawks will rebound with bowl victory

Bryan Wheeler makes predictions of a victorious Jayhawk football season.

/news/2007/jun/13/jayhawks_will_rebound_bowl_victory/

NFL highlights to file and forget

Kelly Breckunitch takes us on a tour of the numbers both high ...

/news/2007/sep/12/fantasyfootball/

Top players making move to pro ranks

Repeating the type of success Kansas enjoyed this season was always going ...

/news/2008/jan/17/nfl_draft/

Vosburgh: Reesing goes undrafted

Despite his highest hopes, Reesing is still waiting for his professional football ...

/news/2010/apr/27/reesing-goes-undrafted/

Where will all the Jayhawks go?

As three Jayhawks hope to become first round picks in Thursday night's ...

/news/2008/jun/25/players/

Football strength coach sculpts team

Chris Dawson: Kansas football's man behind the curtain.

/news/2009/oct/28/football_strength_coach_team/

Wright leaves for NBA

UPDATE: Sophomore forward Julian Wright announced this afternoon that he will be ...

/news/2007/apr/09/wright/

MLB drafts four

/news/2005/jun/15/Baseball/

/weblogs/full_monty/2009/jun/10/ku_mlb_draft/

The Buc starts here

After troubled past, former Jayhawk Talib is ready to live his dream ...

/news/2008/oct/01/talib/

Cornish joins Canadian Football League

He'll have a more productive career in the CFL than languishing on NFL practice squads. Best of luck to Jon.

Cornish joins Canadian Football League

Lowly regarded backs? If they are so lowly regarded, why were they drafted? Obviously the professional talent evaluators held them in higher regard than Cornish.

What you should have said was: His fall off the draft board could be attributed to teams selecting better athletes like Thomas Clayton and Justin Hairston over the slower Cornish, who has a better attitude.

Sign in to comment

Or login with:

OpenID