Receiver Rob Bagg released
REGINA On the cruellest of days, Rob Bagg still made time for a reporter asking about his surprising release from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Bagg apologized for not having much to say when contacted on Saturday. It was painfully obvious he was hurting after being cut by the only CFL team for which he has played.
After providing some comments, Bagg politely said he had to cut short the interview because Riders president and CEO Craig Reynolds was calling.
“Everybody’s day is coming . ... ” Bagg said. “I was caught off guard, but that’s just the business.”
Bagg may have seemed immune to the business side of football. He was a player whose tenure with the Riders seemed more like a movie than a real-life football story.
He made the Riders in 2007 as an undrafted free agent, only to return to Queen’s University in his hometown of Kingston, Ont., for his fifth and final season of U Sports eligibility.
Bagg was back with the Riders in 2008 and would remain with the team until Sunday’s announcement that he’d been released.
He played in nine CFL seasons despite a broken collarbone suffered late in the 2009 Grey Cup game and three major knee surgeries.he was an integral part of the 2013 Grey Cup championship team.
Chris Jones, the Riders’ head coach and general manager, met with the media on Sunday to discuss the team’s cuts. The first question dealt with Bagg ’s release.
“Rob Bagg has a been a good player for a long time and he’s been a loyal player for us during our tenure here,” Jones said. “It’s a young man’s game, unfortunately, and there area couple of young guys who have really performed really well over the course of (training) camp.