For decades, the CFL has lurched from crisis to crisis. Bankruptcies, short-lived American expansion — you name it, the CFL has experienced it.
In many ways, the league’s ability to survive all the calamity is part of its charm. But there is nothing charming nor endearing about the latest CFL mess. Even the league’s biggest supporters — and count me as one of those, dating back to my time as a Toronto Argonauts season-ticket holder in the mid-1990s — can’t possibly see anything positive about what has transpired in the past 10 days, in which a lack of sound decision-making and leadership from team and league management and two star players exposed major cracks in the entire operation.
This month, Argonauts star quarterback Chad Kelly and Montreal Alouettes star defensive lineman Shawn Lemon both were on the field for their respective teams at camp while serving suspensions.
Kelly, the league’s most outstanding player last season, attended rookie camp last Thursday, albeit not in equipment, two days after being suspended nine games (at minimum) for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy.
Then, on Tuesday, Lemon practised with the reigning Grey Cup champs, despite being suspended indefinitely in April for betting on games, including one of his own, in 2021 when he was a member of the Calgary Stampeders. The sack specialist appealed the suspension on Monday.
Although these are drastically different cases, the overlap is the fact both these players were available for all to see with their respective teams while facing serious penalties.
The CFL handed Kelly his half-season ban after a league investigation of a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against the player and the club in an Ontario court on Feb. 21. Because it took two-and-a-half months for the CFL to reach its decision, the announcement of Kelly’s suspension rubbed right up against the start of camp, not leaving much time for further discussion on how to proceed.
In the suit, the former coach accuses Kelly of a pattern of harassment, including unwanted romantic advances and threatening language. She also alleges in the suit that after she approached Argos management, assistant general manager John Murphy said she “opened a can of worms that didn’t need to be opened.” None of the claims have been proven in court.
Despite the suspension, the Argos decided it was OK to have Kelly on the field May 9 in Guelph, Ont. (On a related note, the Argos decided it was also OK to retain Murphy in a management role after the Toronto executive was suspended by the league for an altercation with fans following his team’s loss to the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the 2021 CFL East final.)
The decision earned plenty of backlash, including criticism via social media from at least two women working in the league.
Kristina Costabile, the league’s senior manager of web and digital content, wrote: “I’m extremely disappointed to see that Chad attended Toronto’s rookie camp this week, while he has been suspended from playing and has not yet completed the league-mandated counseling and assessments.”
Rheanne Marcoux, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ senior director of branding, criticized Argos general manager Michael (Pinball) Clemons for allowing Kelly on the field.
“As I and many female staff members across the league have communicated to (CFL commissioner) Randy Ambrosie, the handling of this extremely serious situation has been a complete and utter failure from top to bottom. You promised to go above and beyond the league recommendations,” she wrote.
At the start of training camp three days after Kelly’s rookie camp appearance, the Argos put out a statement saying the QB will not participate in team activities. Then, the club tweeted Kelly was added to the suspended list on Wednesday, only to retract that hours later while saying he “remains away from the team.” Maybe it’s just a procedural misunderstanding, but on a serious matter like this, it would be nice if the Argos could get it right in the first place.
On Thursday, Kelly put out a statement saying he is withdrawing from training camp to “minimize distractions for the team and to put in the work to earn both reinstatement in the CFL and everyone's trust.” He said he will "take full advantage of this counselling opportunity to learn, grow and better myself." He added that his legal team is exploring options “to clarify a number of the conclusions from the report” and considering “next steps.”
Meanwhile, there was no confusion around Alouettes' leadership’s thoughts on Lemon being present despite his uncertain playing status.
"There's no reason for me to be unhappy," GM Danny Maciocia said when asked about Lemon practising while appealing. "I don't see any distraction. I mean, everybody's OK with it. It's just part of the process. It's part of the appeal.”
Maciocia, it seems, has a high bar for what constitutes a distraction.
Added coach Jason Maas: “I love Shawn, I think we all do. Love having him here.
“His leadership, his presence in the building is felt, and obviously (he) came out today ready to play already, so he's ready to go. We're excited to have him here.”
Herb Zurkowsky, the Montreal Gazette’s long-time CFL writer, reported Tuesday that the league and CFLPA do not see eye-to-eye on when players were made aware of the league’s policy on gambling. In its appeal of his suspension, Zurkowsky wrote, the union will argue Lemon shouldn’t be punished for violating a policy the players didn’t find out about until a year after he made the bets.
Ambrosie sees things much differently, saying in a statement: “The CFL is disappointed that the Players' Association would challenge a decision so fundamental to the integrity of our league. The league’s rules prohibiting CFL-related gambling in 2021 were made abundantly clear to all players at the time, yet Mr. Lemon knowingly ignored those rules.”
Presumably, we’ll get a better idea of what actually transpired after the appeal process plays out.
The Argos, meanwhile, aren’t yet prepared to say how they’ll feel or react if Kelly appeals. The CFLPA has already appealed against the CFL for being denied access to its full independent report — the league has not said publicly why it refused the request. Neither the CFLPA or Kelly's agent have said whether they plan to appeal the suspension.
If that does occur, a Kelly appeal could create yet another uncomfortable situation.
“At this point, we are following the league’s requirements to the letter. That’s actually a different conversation for a different day,” Clemons said May 9, while talking to reporters during rookie camp.
In other words, time will tell.
What is clear now, though, is that this is not a good time for the CFL. We’re not talking about a dirty hit during a game or a player criticizing a ref in an interview — these are real-life, societal issues. When Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto and Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter were initially suspended by their respective leagues for gambling violations in the past year, they were nowhere near the public eye.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach Mike O’Shea, a respected voice throughout his career, gave a thoughtful answer when asked about the Lemon situation by reporters at training camp this week.
“I’ve enjoyed a fairly long relationship with the CFL,” said O’Shea, whose Bombers lost to Lemon and the Als in last year’s Grey Cup. “I’d prefer to go forward keeping the integrity of the league intact. I don’t see any place in this league for people that bet on our football games, bet on their own football games. That’s just the way I feel. I really take a lot of pride in this league and the integrity this league has had and for the length of time it’s been around. It’s an iconic Canadian organization.”
It doesn’t sound like O’Shea and Alouettes coaching and management are reading from the same playbook on a fairly important topic.
Meanwhile, O’Shea also was asked about the Kelly situation last week.
“The women in our league, and there’s a lot of them, really deserve to feel safe coming to work every day,” he said. “That kind of question should be posed to the women in our organization, and see if they do feel respected and safe in this workplace. I believe they do, but far be it for me to answer that.”
While there are many unanswered questions, Ambrosie, football operations staff with the Argos and Alouettes and two of the league’s best players must look long and hard in the mirror. A league that prides itself on being in touch with its communities, with its fans, has lost its way.
The current state of the CFL is an embarrassment to all.
-- with files from CP
