Edmonton Elks’ general manager Ed Hervey has clarified his definition of a superstar after landing in hot water for saying no CFL players fit the bill.
“A superstar for me was Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, that’s all. That’s really it. Guys that are known globally and all that stuff,” Hervey said in an appearance on The Jason Gregor Show. “I think it gets to a point where people’s feelings get hurt when you say certain things, and you gotta go back and kind of correct it and make sure that people hear the right thing. I do not think that our league doesn’t have really good players. I believe our league has excellent players, I think that we have players who play at a high level, and that’s why I’m very proud of this league.”
“I’m going to make it clear, and this isn’t a shot at any player or anyone, but when I was growing up it was Muhammad Ali — guys that can walk anywhere and they’re known by everyone. Wayne Gretzky — those guys walk in the building and everyone knows who they are. Magic Johnson, the list goes on and on.”
Hervey claimed he didn’t “know any superstar players in the CFL” during a press conference on Thursday. His comment came in response to a question regarding his interactions with receiver Eugene Lewis, who recently claimed to be a superstar while criticizing the GM for his treatment of him in free agency.
The statement sparked outrage from Lewis online, as well as many current and former players like Brandon Banks, Tim White, Adam Bighill, Manny Arceneaux, and Peter Dyakowski. The Canadian Football League Players’ Association issued an official statement condemning Hervey’s comments as “insulting and ignorant” to their members and demanded an official retraction.
Hervey, who has been engaged in a public back-and-forth with Lewis since delivering an impassioned rant on the value of his contract in January, did not apologize for the comments in his interview but stated they had been “blown out of proportion.” He also expressed his desire to see the feud with Lewis concluded as soon as possible.
“I’m really getting tired of talking about this particular topic, and with this particular player making a fuss over something that is irrelevant to my day to day. I’m gonna say it one more time — we have great players in this league that do great things,” Hervey said.
“Superstars transcend the sport and I think that I’ll leave it at that. I’m not knocking anyone, and I don’t want to talk about anyone anymore, because I have more important things to do with our football team and our focus than to getting into a match of who’s what and who’s not. But if I show my family a picture of this one person, they’re not going to know who that is. And if I showed them a picture of Michael Jordan, everyone’s gonna know. That’s all. That’s really where I was going with it, and that’s it. If it hurt someone’s feelings, too bad.”
The post Edmonton Elks’ GM Ed Hervey clarifies no CFL ‘superstars’ comment amidst backlash appeared first on 3DownNation.
