Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Alouettes rush-end Shawn Lemon is serving an indefinite suspension for betting 73 euros — the equivalent of just over $100 Canadian — on a pair of 2021 CFL games while with Calgary, including one in which he played. Because he lost his opening-game wager, the Stampeders’ contest was moot. He stood to collect approximately $170 and didn’t bet against his team.
At the time, sports gambling had just been legalized in Canada, but that doesn’t justify Lemon’s actions. As a veteran player, he should have known better.
On Aug. 28, the CFL announced an independent arbitrator had upheld the league’s decision to suspend Lemon indefinitely, potentially ending the 36-year-old’s illustrious career. Lemon testified via a video conference hearing held Aug. 2 and 5. He was represented by Montreal-based lawyer Aaron Makovka, who has specialized in labour and employment law for 30 years.
Neither Lemon nor Makovka responded to interview requests from The Gazette.
In early May, Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly was suspended a minimum of nine games for violating the CFL’s gender-based violence policy. The suspension followed an independent investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former Argonauts strength and conditioning coach that alleged sexual harassment by Kelly and accused the team of wrongful dismissal. The lawsuit was settled in June through mediation and Kelly vowed to be a better teammate and person.
On Aug. 18, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie reinstated Kelly with conditions — a last-chance agreement — meaning his off-field conduct will be closely scrutinized.
Kelly has previously transgressed, arrested twice before coming to the CFL. But he’s the league’s reigning most outstanding player, plays in the league’s biggest market and is a star quarterback.
Does this seem like a double standard? Why is Lemon’s penalty greater than Kelly’s?
Friday night’s home game against B.C. will be the eighth game Lemon missed since being suspended — he played in the opening four after appealing the suspension — meaning he’ll have already lost approximately $80,000 in salary. Has the CFL and, by extension Ambrosie, not already extracted its pound of flesh?
Ambrosie wasn’t made available for an interview despite repeated requests by The Gazette. In a telephone interview last week with Sportsnet, he said the decision to reinstate Kelly came following advice from a group of gender-based violence specialists. However, before he met with the specialists, Ambrosie was quick to sanction a minimum nine-game suspension.
“We had an assessment by a certified doctor … we talked to (Kelly’s) counsellor,” Ambrosie told Sportsnet. “We felt in this case we did handle this situation correctly. I know there’s people that would have wanted it to be handled differently.”
No kidding.
CFL fans have taken to social media over the last week, questioning why Lemon’s suspension is greater than Kelly’s. Numerous spectators at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field brought signs criticizing Kelly’s conduct to last Monday’s game between the Tiger-Cats and Argos.
Ambrosie has been married nearly 40 years. He and his wife have three daughters. We wonder what they might be discussing around the dinner table. Als general manager Danny Maciocia, who also refused comment, has three daughters himself, including two in university. What must they think of the CFL? The league basically has stated that multiple run-ins with the law and being accused of harassing a female employee is less serious than gambling and doesn’t compromise the league’s integrity.
There are female CFL employees in its Toronto-based office, not to mention a handful scattered throughout the league.
“I think it’s a big slap in the face. It was a slap in the face to start with that (Kelly) only got nine games,” said one female executive who requested anonymity. “I think most women (who work) in the CFL should feel that way. You’re essentially saying Lemon would have been better to sexually assault somebody like myself.
“For us to continue to support (Kelly) as a league, what does that say about the league that we’re a part of? It’s disgusting, honestly. The way he acts. His demeanour around people. He thinks he’s kind of above it. Why do you have a gender-based violence policy if, at the end of the day, you’re not going to stand behind that? You’re saying we want to encourage women to work in the CFL, but you’re not doing anything to protect them.
“I would never go and work in Toronto … because of the way things were handled and the people that continue to support him. What bothers me more is (Kelly) continues to be part of an organization and is supported by people when he’s done something terrible.”
The precedent has been set by other professional sports leagues that mete out stiffer sanctions for gambling violations than domestic, sexual abuse or harassment allegations or violations.
In April, Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors was barred for life from the NBA after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games — even betting on the Raptors to lose. In comparison, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson received an 11-game suspension in 2022 for allegations of sexual misconduct from more than two dozen women.
The court of public opinion ultimately decides the justification of each.
Lemon, meanwhile, now will probably request his reinstatement through the players’ association in one last attempt to salvage his career.