Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver Mike Morreale tries to get away from Montreal Alouette Richard Karikari during a game in Montreal on June 22, 2005.RYAN REMIORZ
The Canadian Football League Players' Association has a new man at the top for the first time in 13 years.
Former Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver Mike Morreale was voted in Tuesday as president of the CFLPA. He replaces former CFL player Stu Laird, who negotiated several collective agreements with the league, including the current deal which has a performance-enhancing-drug testing component.
Other CFLPA executive committee members voted in at the annual general meeting in Barbados included former Calgary Stampeders offensive lineman Jay McNeil (first vice-president), Montreal Alouettes lineman Scott Flory (second V-P) and Ticats centre Marwan Hage (third V-P).
Morreale was a player representative during his career and later the marketing director for Pro Players, the CFLPA marketing arm. He was also a spokesman for the War Amps CHAMP program and a fund raiser for McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton.
In a statement, he said of leading the CFLPA: "This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm looking forward to the new and exciting challenges that come with it."