CFL Players Finally Held Accountable

The NFL is usually the league known for the off field problems that occur among their players, and players with egos bigger than their bank accounts. These players are apparently bigger than the team.

The CFL hasn’t been as bad for this seeing as most players can’t afford to act out of fear for losing their jobs. Many of the players have to keep other jobs in the offseason because they don’t make a huge salary in the football season.

Recently the CFL has seen a rash of behavior that can cause a lot of problems among teams and their players. The disrespect shown by players has a lot of people shaking their heads.

The disrespect showed itself in the very early parts of the preseason when JoJuan Armour was disciplined for action detrimental to the team when he heavily tossed Jeremaine Copeland to the turf in a practice.

Derrick Armstrong showed how big his ego is when he refused to play for the Blue Bombers when he was asked to play the role of the Designated Import.

The latest incident happened when Arland Bruce III went to the media to state his disapproval of his coach and quarterback after his suspension for multiple incidents.

While I haven’t had a lot of experience in a CFL dressing room, I am sure these things aren’t new to the league. They seem to be more public than other situations, and also the fact that there have been three incidents before week four of the CFL.

The biggest part of this story isn’t the severity of the actions of these players, but the fact these players are actually being held accountable for these actions.

It can’t be easy for coaches to make these decisions, especially since all three players who are no longer with their teams were team leaders. Bruce and Armstrong were both the team leaders in receiving yards, and Armour was a definite force on the Stampeders defense.

I give full respect to all three coaches that made the decisions to let these players go. John Hufnagel started it in Calgary with the choice to release Armour. It wasn’t just one incident that brought Coach Huff to this decision, and it wasn’t a decision made lightly. He actually took three days to decide what to do. It had to have been a tough one to make since days before, Armour’s physical showed an irregular heartbeat, and the Stampeders made a very public effort to stand behind Armour.

Winnipeg’s situation may have been caused by a bad decision by a rookie head coach, but never had to get where it got. Derrick Armstrong refused to play after being asked to rotate in as the Designated Import. Armstrong dressed for the first game of the season, but refused to go into the game, even when his teammate Terrence Edwards went down after taking a heavy hit. After that show of selfishness, what was left of the relationship between  Armstrong and Bombers Head Coach Mike Kelly, went right out the window, and Kelly made the choice to release Armstrong.

The Toronto situation involving Arland Bruce and Argos rookie Head Coach Bart Andrus came about because Bruce’s actions off the field were showing a lack or respect for the system Andrus had set up. Andrus had made things very clear, from the beginning of training camp, what he expected of his players. Bruce was late for meetings, he left his playbook on the plane, and was acting like his “star status” had earned him a pass from having to follow the rules.

That prompted Coach Andrus to suspend Bruce for his actions. Bruce then took it to the media showing his displeasure, and making some statements that may even make Terrell Owens cringe. Andrus didn’t waste time standing up for himself, and he also found a team that felt they could handle not only his “Owens-esque” ego, but also his hefty $190,000 paycheque.

Most of the time I would shake my head and wonder why layers are allowed to act this way. This time I am nodding my head in approval of the actions of these Coaches. I think Coach Hufnagel set the precedent early, and maybe even gave Kelly and Andrus the extra courage needed to hold their players accountable.

I am even guessing Hufnagel gave a stern warning to Stampeders DB’s Dwight Anderson and Davonzo Tate after their shoving match after their defence gave up a BC touchdown in week four. Any more tantrums from either might see them looking for jobs elsewhere. The nice thing about a precedent is that both Tate and Anderson know Coach Huff has released a player before for his disrespect for a teammate, he might do it again.

This is a situation I hope younger football players and coaches are watching carefully, and I will give this bit of advice.

To the players I will say this. You are NEVER more important than the team. You may have more talent than anyone on the team, but you rely on every other player to pass to you, hand off to you, or more importantly, block for you.

You may have learned to make plays without much help from your team, but all it takes is one player to decide not to try as hard holding off a tackler, and you could see yourself with a ACL or MCL tear that could compromise your career. Always be a player that others WANT to go to the end of the earth for. You are NEVER bigger than the team.

To the coaches, I will say this. You have the chance to stop many of these egos from getting too big early on in their football years. Many coaches enable these players, and feed their egos by making the player above everyone else on the team.

These players are given special attention, and are exempt from following the rules that every other layer has to follow. This shows players from an early age that everyone is out for themselves, as many coaches only care about “Winning at all costs”. It is less about their players, and more about their reputation as a coach.

I will admit must be hard to keep some players accountable, and I wouldn’t condone straight up releasing a young player. There are always ways of holding them accountable, and showing the rest of the team these actions will not be tolerated. It will always be better off for the team.

It may mean you might lose a game, but it’s not about you and your win record. It’s about coaching these players to be the best athletes they can be. When they really learn that football is a team sport, the player and the team will be so much better off in the long run.