The Canadian Football League announced that it has suspended Toronto Argonauts Vice President of Player Personnel John Murphy following a physical and verbal altercation with fans following the team's 27-19 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final on Sunday.
The league also stated that its investigation into player altercations with fans is still ongoing.
A fan video captured an altercation that appeared to show Murphy jawing and pushing with numerous Tiger-Cats supporters:
Per TMZ Sports, a couple of Argonauts players jumped a railing and engaged in a physical altercation with fans after someone allegedly spit beer in a player's face.
TMZ Sports also noted that Murphy appears to use a gay slur toward someone in addition to making contact with a fan who gave him the middle finger.
There is also video of fans getting into altercations with players:
Toronto police are investigating, per Sportsnet.
3DownNation provided more context:
According to 6ix Buzz TV, the incident was precipitated by a Ticats fan spitting beer in the face of an Argonauts player as they were leaving the field after their 27-19 loss. The fans were also apparently waving flags close to players heads and directing verbal insults their way.
The video allegedly shows strong-side linebacker Chris Edwards in the stands with teammates climbing up to join him. Canadian receiver Dejon Brissett appears to speak to Edwards in an attempt to calm him before a fan, wearing a Ticats flag as a cape, appears to shove him.
Punches appear to been exchanged as Edwards retreats, before Brissett appears to pin the fan to the wall as security arrives.
3DownNation further reported that offensive linemen Dejon Allen and Shane Richards were also allegedly in the video, along with former NFL pass-rushers Shane Ray and Kony Ealy.
The Argonauts hosted the Tiger-Cats at BMO Field with a spot in the Grey Cup on the line. A crowd of 21,492 saw Hamilton overcome a 12-0 halftime deficit to beat the East Division regular-season champions.
Hamilton will now host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.
Canadian Football League legend and professional wrestler Angelo Mosca Sr. died Saturday at the age of 84.
Mosca's wife, Helen, announced his death in a Facebook post, per the Associated Press.
"It is with great sadness that the family of Angelo Mosca announce his passing … after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s. Angelo was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather as well as friend to so many."
The CFL, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and WWE released statements following Mosca's death.
"Savvy, smart and ahead of his time, he built his bad guy personae into a personal brand that was bigger than life," the CFL's statement read in part.
"Unloved in some markets, where he was the villain, his stature was unmatched in Hamilton, where he was a hero, and when he traded his shoulder pads for wrestling tights, he enthralled Mosca fans in countries near and far."
The Tiger-Cats added:
Angelo Mosca was a legend. He was one of the most legendary players in CFL history and certainly the most legendary to ever wear a Tiger-Cat uniform. His contributions to the game of Canadian football, to our organization, and to the Hamilton community will never be forgotten. We send our sincere condolences to Angelo's entire family.
The former Notre Dame star played offensive and defensive tackle, winning one Grey Cup with the Ottawa Rough Riders and four more with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played in the CFL from 1958 to 1972 and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
After his football career ended, Mosca moved on to professional wrestling. Known as Angelo "King Kong" Mosca, he competed in the AWA and Stampede Wrestling before moving to WWE. He had rivalries with WWE Hall of Famers and legends Bob Backlund and Pat Patterson.
Mosca worked as a color commentator and promoter after his active wrestling days, per WWE's statement.
Condolences poured in for Mosca after the news was revealed, including one from The Iron Sheik:
In his later years, Mosca wrote an autobiography (Tell Me To My Face) that was published in 2011. He also became just the second Tiger-Cat in franchise history to have his number retired, when Hamilton decided to do so in 2015.
A potential partnership between the CFL and the XFL appears to be dead, at least for the moment.
"Our talks with the XFL, exploring the potential for collaboration and innovation, have been positive and constructive," the CFL announced in a statement Wednesday. "While we remain open to finding new ways to work together in the future, we and our XFL counterparts have jointly decided to not pursue any formal arrangements at this time."
The two leagues released a joint statement in March announcing they had "agreed to work together to identify opportunities for the leagues to collaborate, innovate, and grow the game of football."
And Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported in April that the CFL and XFL were exploring the possibility of interleague games, an interleague championship and a shared All-Star Game, with a future merger the "long-term objective."
The leagues would play their own schedule, with the possibility of interspersing some interleague games throughout their respective seasons before the two champions of each league would meet for an interleague championship game.
But those ambitions appear to now be on the backburner.
The XFL's future is now in question. The league has folded twice, first in 2001 after just one season and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, just five games into its reprisal.
"It's done," a prominent XFL staffer told ESPN's Kevin Seifert and Field Yates at the time. "It's not coming back."
But an investment group headlined by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson agreed to buy the league in August, setting up yet another potential revival.
The CFL also canceled its 2020 season amid the pandemic, though it is set to return on Aug. 5.
As for the XFL's future, it released a statement on Wednesday: "While our discussions with the CFL did not ultimately lead to a collaboration, the effort reinforced our belief and commitment to developing the XFL for international spring football. We look forward to seeing everyone for kickoff in spring of 2023."
Edmonton's CFL franchise announced Tuesday its new nickname will be the Elks.
The team had previously been recognized as the Edmonton Eskimos before dropping the moniker last July in favor of the Edmonton Football Team. The move followed a similar change by the NFL's Washington Football Team, which had utilized a racist slur for Native Americans in its branding.
"We look forward to the season that is coming at us and for that, we need a name," team president Chris Presson said Tuesday. "With your input, much debate and deliberation, we came to the name that we are proud to present today."
As was the case with the Washington Football Team, Edmonton faced heightened scrutiny over its original nickname after signaling it wouldn't be making a change.
By July, the team acknowledged that "a lot has occurred" since it previously looked into the future of the nickname and that it would be "accelerating our ongoing process of review." One of the developments was a major sponsor, Belairdirect, calling into question its partnership with the organization.
The Guardian's Dave Caldwell explained how the word "Eskimo" is considered a pejorative by those within the Inuit community.
Norma Dunning, an Inuit writer and scholar, was critical of Edmonton's continued usage of the name while making what she thought to be token gestures.
"I believe this is their understanding of compromise and a show of interest in the people whose name that they continue to use is slanderous, outdated and unnecessary," Dunning said to Caldwell. "On the one hand they are saying, ‘Yep, we’re gonna keep using Eskimos, but hey, look over here, we’ll bring some Inuit kids to the south for a game!'"
Jennifer Adese, an associate professor at University of Toronto Mississauga, also explained to Caldwell that the word "Eskimo" had likely been generalized so much as to disconnect it from its reference to the Inuit community.
There was a lot of love for the punters early in the 2021 CFL Global Draft.
The BC Lions made Australia's Jake Ford the first pick of the event:
Ford was one of four punters selected in the nine-team first round. It helps that the Canadian Football League has rules that allow punters to contribute on the scoreboard. A rouge gives teams a single point when the ball is kicked into the end zone.
The Lions' director of global scouting Geroy Simon specifically noted the special teams talent available in this draft, per J.J. Adams of The Province:
"You look at the punters and kickers, these guys, a lot of these guys are from Australia, they play Aussie rules football. Some of the kids from Mexico, where they played soccer all their life, so they’re used to kicking the ball. They have those skills and they have the power. When the ball comes out the foot it really explodes."
Ford, 28, played Aussie rules football until coming to the United States, eventually spending time at the University of Oregon and Division II Ouachita Baptist University. He led the nation in net punting in 2018.
Though it's not a strategy we are likely to see in the NFL, CFL teams are clearly ready to build around their punter.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders wide receiver Martavis Bryant has signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, according to the team's vice president of player personnel John F. Murphy.
Bryant, 29, last played in the NFL in 2018 with the Raiders, posting 19 receptions for 266 yards in eight games (two starts).
The wide receiver looked like he was bound for stardom after an excellent rookie season in 2014 that saw him catch 26 passes for 549 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games. He followed that up with 50 receptions for 765 yards and six scores in 2015 across 11 contests, though he was suspended the first four games of that season for violating the league's policy on substances of abuse.
That suspension foreshadowed further issues that stalled Bryant's NFL career. He was indefinitely suspended by the NFL in 2016 and missed the entire season for multiple violations of the policy on substances of abuse. He was also banned indefinitely in Dec. 2018 for violating the conditional terms of his reinstatement to the league in 2017.
Bryant never played another snap in the NFL after that 2018 suspension. In total he played in 44 career games, catching 145 passes for 2,183 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The former Clemson Tiger will look to resurrect his football career in the CFL.
The CFL announced Monday its 2020 season is canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our league governors decided today it is in the best long-term interests of the CFL to concentrate on the future," commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement. "We are absolutely committed to 2021, to the future of our league and the pursuit of our vision of a bigger, stronger, more global CFL."
The CFL said in its statement that losing its top source of revenue this season—fans in attendance—was the driving factor behind canceling the season. The league had been considering a bubble environment for a shortened season, though the Canadian government rejected the league's request for financial support.
"Even with additional support, our owners and community-held teams would have had to endure significant financial losses to play in 2020," Ambrosie said. "Without it, the losses would be so large that they would really hamper our ability to bounce back strongly next year and beyond. The most important thing is the future of our league."
The statement also said the league and players had been close to coming to terms on an agreement for a shortened season this year.
"We look forward to building on our relationship with our players as we look to the future," he said. "We need to use this time to build a bigger, better, stronger CFL and I'm confident we can do just that."
Finally, Ambrosie thanked the Canadian population for taking the threat of the coronavirus seriously and taking the necessary steps to slow down its spread. According to CNN.com, Canada has 124,213 confirmed cases and 9,075 deaths. Contrast that to the United States, which has 5.4 million confirmed cases and 170,281 deaths.
"I also want to express our gratitude to all our fellow Canadians because their efforts flattened the pandemic's curve to the extent that a 2020 season appeared feasible," he said. "Unfortunately, not all the necessary pieces came together."
Washington's NFL team is not the only football squad that will officially change its nickname.
On Tuesday, the Edmonton team in the Canadian Football League announced it will no longer use the nickname "Eskimos."
"Our board of directors has made the decision to discontinue use of the word 'Eskimo' in the team name," the announcement read. "We'll be known as the Edmonton Football Team or EE Football Team while we go through the process of determining a new name befitting our storied team."
Sportsnet noted the team conducted a review and twice announced this year it planned on keeping the nickname that Edmonton sports teams have used since the 19th century.
However, part of the team's statement acknowledged attitudes are "shifting" toward the name:
"Recent findings demonstrate that views regarding the team name are shifting. While many fans are deeply committed to keeping the name, others are increasingly uncomfortable with the moniker. The long-term viability of the Club requires everyone to get behind this change and continue to support the team, especially during these challenging financial times. We are grateful for the backing of our partners and know that we can count on them to support us in making this difficult decision and helping us through the change."
The Edmonton CFL team has won 14 Grey Cups in the modern era since it was founded under its previous nickname in 1949.
Controversy over the team's name took center stage in 2015 when Natan Obed, who is the president of Canada's national Inuit organization (the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami), said, "It isn't right for any team to be named after an ethnic group," per the Edmonton Sun. "This is part of the past. It isn't part of the present and shouldn't be part of the future."
The killing of George Floyd that sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism also led to more public pressure for sports teams to move away from racist nicknames.
In addition to Washington, Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians announced "we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name."
The Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos have reportedly agreed to expedite their name review and provide an update in that regard by the end of July, according to Phil Heidenreich of the Global News.
In a statement, Edmonton said it was taking "this issue seriously as has been demonstrated by the three years we've spent engaging in Canada's North and conducting research related to our name. We recognize that a lot has occurred since this information was gathered, and as a result, we are accelerating our ongoing process of review."
The team also said it was further consulting with the Inuit community, stakeholders and sponsors.
That came after insurance provider Belairdirect said Tuesday that it was rethinking its sponsorship of the team. The company released the following statement:
"For several years, we have been a sponsor of the Edmonton Eskimos. At Belairdirect, one of our core values is respect, which is founded on seeing diversity as a strength, being inclusive and collaborative. Guided by this value, in order for us to move forward and continue on with our partnership, we will need to see concrete action in the near future, including a commitment to a name change."
A number of other partners, including Maple Leaf Foods, Fisherman's Friend, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd., Servus Credit Union and Tim Hortons, said they had been in contact with the team regarding the name review or supported the review.
Edmonton's potential name change comes at a time when various nicknames around sports have come under scrutiny or are being changed. Most notably, Washington's NFL team—which has long come under fire for having a racially offensive nickname—announced Monday it would officially be changing its moniker.
"That review has begun in earnest," the team said in a statement (h/t Homero De la Fuente and Wayne Sterling of CNN.com). "As part of this process, we want to keep our sponsors, fans and community apprised of our thinking as we go forward. Today, we are announcing we will be retiring the name and logo upon completion of this review."
Washington has not yet named a replacement nickname.
