Bailey Flint selected by Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2022 Canadian Football League Global Draft

Former Toledo tight end Bailey Flint didn’t get the phone call for an NFL opportunity over the weekend, but he’ll still have a chance to start his professional football career in North America, getting selected by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2022 Canadian Football League Global Draft on Monday afternoon.

The Global Draft is a relatively new phenomenon for the CFL, and is part of their global diversity initiative to give players from non-traditional backgrounds a chance at the professional levels of football.

As of 2021, the CFL requires at least two “global” players per team on a 46-player maximum roster in the roster-building process, which makes for plenty of intriguing selections.

Flint, a native of Melbourne, Australia, was eligible as a selection for the CFL, despite not participating in the Global Draft Combine, and summarily taken with the second overall pick in by the Ontarian gridiron side.

Flint was a sharpshooting punter in the Glass City, finding himself on the Ray Guy Award Watchlist for best punter in the country in both 2020 and 2021, finishing his five-year Toledo career with 211 punts for 8,501 yards, averaging 40.3 yards per punt, with 16 touchbacks, 83 punts inside the 20-yard line and 75 fair catches forced.

The longer and wider fields of Canadian gridiron football— combined with there only being three downs per possession— makes the punter position a very important one in the CFL, as it allows for more options to give the defense good field position.

Flint will be in a position battle right away with fellow Aussie national Joel Whitford, who was the Ti-Cats’ primary 2021 starter, finishing with 68 punts for 3,069 yards, with a 45.1 yard per punt average and 23 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.