Linebacker Hebert facing possible fine and suspension
CALGARY — Alouettes linebacker Kyries Hebert faces a fine and possible suspension from the Canadian Football League after knocking Calgary’s Jon Cornish unconscious with a forearm to the head in the fourth quarter Saturday.
Hebert, however, denied he was attempting to seek justice, and said he wasn’t retaliating for the Stampeders’ Nik Lewis knocking Montreal’s Marc-Olivier Brouillette out of the game one play earlier with a rib injury.
“I want to be clear that Nik Lewis taking out Marco and celebrating afterwards had nothing to do with it,” said Hebert, who received a 25-yard rough-play penalty and was ejected. “I wasn’t retaliating for him taking out my guy and celebrating.”
Lewis threw a block for Jeff Fuller against Brouillette, who clearly didn’t see the Calgary player coming from the side. While Lewis’s hit was devastating, it also appeared to be a clean blow, striking Brouillette in the chest, not head.
Brouillette lay prone on the field for some time, simply because he was experiencing problems breathing.
“I haven’t seen the hit, but I didn’t get hit in the head, so my initial feeling is that it was legal,” said safety Brouillette, who expects to play Friday at Molson Stadium against the B.C. Lions.
Hebert, on the other hand, administered a forearm clothesline to the head of Cornish, the league’s most outstanding player and leading rusher in 2013. Cornish was knocked out and an ambulance came onto the field at McMahon Stadium, although he eventually arose on his own but was forced to leave the game.
Cornish can expect to undergo the requisite concussion protocol procedure.
Hebert denied there was any deliberate attempt on his part to injure Cornish.
“My intentions were to hit as hard as I could, but my intentions are never to injure a player,” Hebert said. “My intentions were not to be at the head.
“It happened really fast. I was at full speed. It wasn’t a breakdown tackle. I was running as fast as I could from the other side and Cornish was running pretty fast.
“Jon’s a decent guy. I hope that he’s OK,” Hebert added. “I do feel remorse as far as him being down.”
Als head coach Tom Higgins, who spent six years as the CFL’s director of officiating, said he was surprised Hebert was disqualified. Higgins’s initial reaction was both hits were potentially clean and legal.
“I’d like to see it again,” he said of Hebert’s play. “I know that it wasn’t intentional. I know that he swung, probably for his chest. It was a really hard hit.
“I don’t believe that it was intentional. He’s not that kind of player. To throw somebody out, I’d think everybody would know that (it was intentional). Yes, it was serious, obviously. A player got hurt. They reacted to the force of the hit and the location.”
Cornish told the Calgary Herald he remembers making the catch and running downfield. The next thing he remembered was awakening, surrounded by teammates and the training staff.
Lewis, for his part, denied any transgression had occurred.
“If (Brouillette) wasn’t around the ball, I wouldn’t have hit him,” Lewis told the Herald. “I’m not here to hurt people. I’m here to play hardnosed football and let people know that if you’re around the ball, keep your head on a swivel.”
Lewis said he believes retaliation was behind Hebert’s play.
Higgins, meanwhile, was obviously concerned with the Als taking 12 penalties for 120 yards.
“It’s disappointing how it got shabby at the end of the game,” he said. “There were discipline problems.
“We will and have to be a heck of a lot better.”