Suspension for dirty hit sends players a message

Player safety is one of many planks of CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s platform.

Ambrosie has addressed the issue by eliminating full-contact practices during the regular season and adding a third bye week to avoid short breaks between games. Both initiatives are designed to reduce injuries and improve the quality of play.

Football, however, remains a violent game, and an incident which occurred last Thursday was a reminder of that.

Late in the third quarter, Ottawa Redblacks linebacker Kyries Hebert levelled Calgary Stampeders receiver DaVaris Daniels with a hit to the head. Hebert led with the crown of his helmet and elbow while Daniels was in what the CFL deemed “a defenceless position.”

Hebert was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness and was subsequently suspended for one game. He’ll serve that suspension on Friday when the Redblacks visit the Montreal Alouettes.

“Kyries is a very good player and I want to see him playing,” said Ambrosie, who was in Regina on the weekend for the Humboldt Broncos tribute game.

“Players have to do better and they have to be part of the solution. What happened on that play is not acceptable.

“When you watch that play, that is a step backwards for the game of football and we can’t have that. I don’t want to take the players’ money. This is one area we’re going to be tough on, because I care about the players and I want them to look after one another.”

Hebert is a repeat offender when it comes to hits to the head. He was assessed maximum fines (half a game cheque) for hits to the head against the Stampeders’ Jon Cornish (in 2014) and the Toronto Argonauts’ Cody Fajardo (2017).

The hit on Daniels is the first infraction for which Hebert has been suspended.

“We went through an elaborate conversation about all of the options that were available,” Ambrosie said. “What we decided was that we wanted to send a message to the players: ‘If you do that, you will suffer the consequences.’

“We hope that one game was enough to send that message to Kyries, and hopefully to the rest of the players in the league.”

Ambrosie, a former CFL player, considered the bigger picture before suspending Hebert.

“Football is a tough game to play and I want to send the right message,” Ambrosie said. “I still try to remember that it’s not just his life you’re affecting when you take a game cheque. It’s his family’s life, as well, and I try to bring that into my thought process.”