Treatment versus enforcement

Former Toronto Argonaut quarterback and Super Bowl winner Joe Theismann laid into the signing of Ricky Williams. He believes Williams' suspension from the NFL should have been honoured by the CFL and that Williams doesn't deserve to wear the Argo uniform because he's an "addict". I wish that Williams in the spirit of full disclosure told us what the mystery 4th test failure was for (the first three being cannabis). But there are problems with Theismann going off like this.
  • Theismann reflects his ESPN listenership - chuck them out is what they want to hear, just like prison is the sole drug policy of the Republican party. The Canadian fanbase is not quite there yet.
  • The CFL has been a de facto haven for the NFL unwanted a longer day than today and probably was when Theismann graduated Notre Dame and came north.
  • I honestly believe that getting away for his Miami base will be a good opportunity for Williams to reorder his life and that Mike Clemons is serious about helping him.
  • When you go this public, your own life comes under scrutiny and the CBC via AP and Canadian Press notes that Theismann's son (then 31 years old) pleaded out a cocaine dealing charge for which he received probation. You'd think he'd be more game to try and find a way to rehabilitate Williams but instead you wonder did he lobby his son's DA to forgo probation in favour of breaking rocks on the chain gang given the virulence with which he attacks the "temporary Argo".
If any good comes out of this it will be a move to drug testing in the CFL if only to level the playing field for refugees from the NFL, with Williams due to be drug tested 10 times this year. It also has labour implications since Williams does not have an option year in his contract to satisfy the Dolphins' desire to have him return in 2007 but which was previously mandatory for CFL players and allowed other teams to claim that player for the option year. The Montreal Alouettes also want to know how you can be contracted to two teams at the same time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is the virtue of a proportional response?

"Your request could not be completed. Please try again in a few minutes."

Remote Desktop Connection Manager - a boon for admins