Agent says linebacker held ‘ hostage’
The Calgary Stampeders were preparing for a football game Saturday afternoon, so it’s not likely they were checking Twitter.
If they had, they would have discovered that one of their players is quite frustrated he wasn’t one of those preparing to battle the Ottawa Redblacks.
Just hours before Calgary’s 48- 3 destruction of Jasper Simmons’ former team, the player’s agent went on a rant about how the Stamps are holding the linebacker “hostage” by not playing him.
Simmons himself retweeted the majority of the commentary from Sammy Gahagan, one of which read, “It’s a shame what the @ calstampeders are doing to Jasper Simmons. The worst organization in the @ CFL is holding him hostage & won’t play him.”
Stamps GM and head coach John Hufnagel knew Simmons was upset to be on the reserve list, but he wasn’t expecting his frustrations to be revealed publicly. Before the bye week, Simmons met with Hufnagel and expressed his disappointment at only being in four of the six previous games, and not starting on defence even when middle linebacker Juwan Simpson missed a start.
During the off- season, the Stamps traded receiver Maurice Price to the Redblacks for Simmons and receiver Dan Bucknor, who was released in training camp. Simmons came to the Stamps after being nominated for both most outstanding player and most outstanding defensive player for Ottawa last year, but he joined a veteran, established group of linebackers in Calgary.
Deron Mayo and Simpson are longtime starters, and having Simmons gives the Stamps a good insurance policy, but the 25- yearold doesn’t want to sit and wait. Simmons didn’t speak to the media Sunday to talk about the situation.
“I traded for who I thought was a good football player to come in and compete and add depth and have things work out on the field,” Hufnagel said. “I’m not pleased with what’s occurred, but the fact the player is not comfortable and happy about not playing, I’m not disappointed with it.”
This certainly isn’t the first time a football player is upset about not being in the starting lineup, but it is rare for complaints to go public.
During the 2013 season, the Stamps had defensive lineman Shawn Lemon as a reserve player while Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law were the starting rush ends. Lemon wasn’t happy and told Hufnagel as much, but he kept his frustration within the organization.
When Law went to the NFL the following season, Lemon became the starter, set the CFL record for forced fumbles in a season and helped the Stamps win the Grey Cup before getting an NFL job himself.
“I talked to ( Simmons) about that,” Hufnagel said. “Shawn was in my office every other week because he wanted to play. I respect the fact you are in my office, showing your passion for the game. Right now, this is our situation. Cordarro Law was, at that time, the starter.
“Next year, Shawn showed patience, even though it was difficult, and he was a good pro about it. He got his opportunity the next year and played good football for us.
“We talked about being patient and things like that. I told him to give me a couple of weeks to figure things out. I guess I will have to figure things out.”
The Stampeders defence put together its most complete effort of the season Saturday, so it’s not likely Hufnagel is eager to make changes, especially with Mayo and Simpson playing so well. The other options are to maintain the status quo, or a trade or simply release Simmons so that he could shop his services elsewhere.
We talked about being patient and things like that. I told him to give me a couple of weeks to figure things out.