The Canadian Football League Players’ Association wasn’t shy in voicing their displeasure regarding Ed Hervey’s recent comments denying the existence of CFL “superstars,” but are leaving any decision on punishment up to commissioner Randy Ambrosie or his eventual successor.
“That’s really up to the league. We made our position clear, and any notion that there’s no superstars in CFL, it’s just wrong,” CFLPA president Solomon Elimimian told the media this week. “It’s unfortunate because we all should be rowing in the same direction. We all have mutual goals and it is to promote this game, which is the best game in the world. We all should be doing that with one focus.”
Hervey claimed he didn’t “know any superstar players in the CFL” during a pre-combine press conference last week. 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.
Union leadership declined to say whether Hervey has contacted them directly to apologize or justify his statement, putting the onus on the outgoing commissioner to handle the issue. Coaches and staff for CFL teams can be fined for “bringing the league into disrepute,” though those penalties are rarely made public.
“We’ve had a conversation with Randy and we just plan on addressing this through the league,” newly-appointed president David Mackie said. “There’s obviously gonna be some leadership change on their side, and we plan on establishing clear communications — good and bad — and that’s how we’re going to handle this.”
As of the publishing of this article, Hervey has not publicly retracted or apologized for his comments. The 51-year-old executive did clarify his definition of a “superstar” in a subsequent radio hit, stating that the word only applied to sports figures who were instantly recognizable on a global scale including Michael Jordan and Mohammad Ali.
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, is a former player himself. While he seems unconcerned that his comments may have “hurt someone’s feelings,” the off-hand remarks have solidified the resolve of the CFLPA that their members deserve greater respect.
“Our stance is still strong — there’s plenty of superstars in this league,” Mackie insisted. “We’re sitting here in Niagara Falls for our AGM and we’re celebrating, we just finished talking to Upper Deck and how they’ve had a great year with our superstars on their playing cards. In terms of our comments and our statement, it stays true, but in terms of how we’re handling their response, we’re handling that internally with the league.”
The post CFLPA leaving punishment for Ed Hervey’s ‘no superstars’ comment ‘up to the league’ appeared first on 3DownNation.
