The Canadian Football League held their amateur draft on Saturday. Surprisingly, Jamaal Westerman was not selected. The reason didn't have anything to do with his current status as a New York Jet either.
Although he played four years of high school football in his hometown of Brampton, Ontario, Westerman, who was signed by the New York Jets as a free agent last Sunday, isn't considered a non-import by the CFL either. The one year of football he played in the U.S. before he moved to Canada prevents him from qualifying for that status.
Acquiring "imports" is handled separately from their draft, and IIRC there is a limit on the number of non-Canadians on each roster. Make no mistake though: the CFL is well aware of Westerman, and sure to be monitoring his progress.
This year, three of those players would have impacted the draft in a major way had they been deemed non-imports. Rutgers defensive end Jamaal Westerman was born in Brooklyn, NY and also lived in Florida before moving to Canada and playing four years of high school football in Brampton, Ontario. Westerman, who would have been a guaranteed Top Ten selection, is good enough that he is already on the Toronto Argonauts negotiation list as an import.
Westerman's younger brother Jawaan will be considered a non-import. If by chance Jamaal ends up in Canada, he wouldn't be the first Rutgers product to take that route.