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Videos: CFL players do ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, bringing back memories of Tony Proudfoot

andrew bucholtz

The "Ice Bucket Challenge" has been sweeping through the world of sports recently, raising awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease) research and efforts to improve the lives of people with ALS. That's a cause that should hit home with the CFL, considering that many former players have suffered from the degenerative, incurable and deadly disease; legendary player and broadcaster Tony Proudfoot lost his three-year-battle with it in 2010, while former CFL and NFL player (and current Baltimore Ravens' senior advisor to player development) O.J. Brigance continues to fight the disease. The CFL's players have gotten in on the act this week, with several of them taking the challenge (have a bucket of ice dumped over your head to raise awareness and/or funds for ALS research) and passing it on to others. Here's Hamilton Tiger-Cats' slotback Andy Fantuz taking the challenge Wednesday:

Part of the challenge is that each person who takes it then calls out others. Fantuz challenged former teammate Henry Burris, who's now with the Ottawa Redblacks. Burris then did it himself Thursday, and called out CFL commissioner Mark Cohon and Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Toronto Argonauts' slotback Chad Owens issued his own challenge to Cohon Thursday, also nominating B.C. linebacker Solomon Elimimian and TSN analyst Milt Stegall:

How'd this challenge get started? Drew Edwards' piece over at The Scratching Post explains that it came out of NCAA women's basketball:

"In less than two weeks, the Ice Bucket Challenge has transcended sports and spread into politics and pop culture, along the way raising millions of dollars for various organizations.

The viral phenomenon traces its origins to University of Arizona women's basketball coach, Niya Butts, who made the Cold Water Challenge popular earlier this summer in hopes of raising awareness and money for breast cancer research.

Then former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates heard about the idea from fellow ALS patient Patrick Quinn and got his friends and family involved.

The 29-year-old Frates is suffering from the disease and no longer has use of his arms or legs. The Frates family considered it a fun bit to have friends pour buckets of ice over their heads in private appreciation of Pete's battle. But the movement became public when one of Frates's high school hockey teammates challenged Boston Bruins forward Gregory Campbell.

Part of what has made the Ice Bucket Challenge explode is the daring element of it: anyone challenged has 24 hours to do the same and pass it on.

Campbell challenged Brad Marchand, who challenged Chris Kelly, who challenged Dallas Stars forward Rich Peverley. ...

A spokeswoman for ALS association in the U.S. said the national office has raised $1.35 million from July 29 to Aug. 11, compared to $22,000 for the same period last year, and that wasn't including local chapters. A spokeswoman for ALS Canada didn't have specific figures, but said in an email that a lot of the money coming in from the Ice Bucket Challenge is from new donors."

It's remarkable to see the amount of awareness that can be raised by something like this. ALS is an awful disease, but one that doesn't always receive a huge amount of attention. Hopefully, this campaign can help to change that. It's something the CFL should be happy to be involved in too, given how much Proudfoot meant to this league as a player, author and commentator. It's great to see CFL players really take this on. They've got other counterparts in the football world, too. Here's a video of former NFL player Steve Gleason, who suffers from ALS, taking the challenge (and doing so completely naked):

Brigance also discussed the challenge on ESPN, expressing his support for it but including that it shouldn't be all people do:

For those interested in supporting the fight against ALS, there are plenty of great organizations involved in it that you can donate to, including ALS Canada and the Tony Proudfoot Fund (through ALS Quebec), as well as The Gleason Initiative and The Brigance Brigade.