The Winnipeg Blue Bombers aren't the only CFL team getting the band back together this offseason, as the Edmonton Eskimos are also bringing in a lot of familiar faces. Unlike in Winnipeg, though, many of Edmonton's acquisitions have more of a familiarity with the general manager than the franchise. They are already used to at least half of the Eskimos' green-and-gold colour scheme, though; with the reported addition of defensive tackle Marcus "Chunky" Adams, released by the Saskatchewan Roughriders last month, Eskimos' general manager Eric Tillman (who was in Saskatchewan through the 2009 season) has now brought in nine former Riders since he took the Edmonton job midway through September. That connection extends to the coaching staff, too, where both head coach Kavis Reed and offensive coordinator Marcus Crandell have notable Saskatchewan ties. There's obviously going to be some turnover from team to team in an eight-team league, but the amount of players the Eskimos have brought in

The Hamilton Spectator has a couple of excellent recent pieces on the CFL's new off-season voluntary workouts (OVWs), including Drew Edwards' story on how the Tiger-Cats are trying to take full advantage of the program and Steve Milton's column on how East Division teams are following suit, but West Division teams are not (posted at Edwards' blog). Basically, the 2010 collective bargaining agreement included a new provision that allows CFL teams to hold one formal voluntary three-day workout between Feb. 1 and April 30; these workouts can feature any players under contract (the "voluntary" aspect means you can't necessarily get some established veterans, but you could get those who feel their roster spot might be threatened if they don't show). These workouts only involve helmets, and intentional contact is banned.

To get an idea of what goes on in these workouts, you can check out Ed Tait's pieces on the showing put in by Cory Watson and Greg Carr (pictured above) at the recent

Former CFL quarterback and current CFL on TSN analyst Matt Dunigan talked to The Toronto Star's Chris Zelkovich Wednesday about how he convinced his son Dolan to quit football at the age of 14 after his third concussion in 2007, and that story's one that carries significant implications for football as a whole. One of the most interesting elements of Doug Brown's column on the dangers of concussions (and football in general) was his closing comment on how he might not choose a football career again if he had the chance to start over, and he might not encourage his kids to take up the game. As no one's developed a time-traveling DeLorean yet and Brown doesn't currently have kids, his comments were somewhat abstract, but the Dunigan case proves Brown is far from the only veteran footballer thinking that way. Here's part of what the senior Dunigan told Zelkovich about how that conversation with Dolan went:

"It was the most difficult thing I've had to do, to tell my son what he couldn't