McMaster players remove logos to protest Knox firing
McMaster Marauders football players peeled the school logo from their helmets during Saturday’s OUA quarter-final game to protest the firing of Peterborough’s Greg Knox as head coach.
The Marauders’ season came to a heart-breaking end with a 30-25 loss to the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa.
After falling behind Carleton by 25 points, McMaster closed the gap to 30-25. A winning touchdown pass flew maybe a foot past the outstretched arms of a receiver in the end zone late in the game.
“It was very close,” interim head coach Tom Flaxman said.
“I think this team has been through a lot.”
Knox allegedly said something inappropriate to a sideline game official during a September game against the Waterloo Laurier Golden Hawks.
Ontario University Athletics suspended him for one game after a rapid hearing and appeal.
McMaster had placed him on administrative leave and fired him Oct. 22 after a month-long independent investigation.
The university has offered scant details about what actually happened, citing privacy rules.
Players, coaches, parents and supporters who had been upset about him being placed on administrative leave for four weeks were sour about the move, doubly so by the timing, which came just days before Saturday’s playoff game.
On Saturday, the rage that had been gurgling inside the dressing room was ratcheted up a notch.
Prior to the contest, players — who say they’d been ordered to remove T-shirts with messages supporting their coach prior to at least two recent games — peeled the school logo from their helmets.
Third-year defensive back Noah Hallett says the decision to do this was made on Oct. 22, right after the firing.
“It got the point across, “fifthyear defensive lineman Josh Lolli said.
Players also ran onto the field carrying two giant cut-outs of Knox’s face.
“It’s understandable the students are frustrated, change like this is challenging, “communications director Gord Arbeau said in a statement. “While the university appreciates and understands the frustration, it remains steadfast in support of core principles and values. There is a need for a leadership change on the team and there is a plan in place to enact that change.
“McMaster is committed to a respectful and inclusive community where students, employees and community members are free of harassment and threatening behaviours. The commitment to this kind of community is the university priority. We are confident new leaders will embrace this approach and share this commitment. Now that the season is over, the next chapter for the team can begin.”
Some parents of players also wrote a lengthy letter to school administration, including president Patrick Deane, in which they said “we have no faith or trust that the investigation uncovered the full truth of the matter” and referring to the entire episode as “an embarrassment to the institution.”
McMaster plans to launch a search for a new head coach right away.
Knox became interim head coach when Stef Ptaszek left to join the Hamilton Tiger-Cats shortly before the 2016 season. He’d been the defensive co-ordinator in each of the three seasons (2011, ’12 and ’14) the Marauders made it to the Vanier Cup.
Since taking over the top job, he had led McMaster to a 15-6 record.
According to the Ontario Sunshine List, Knox made $113,456 last year as head coach.
Knox is a member of Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame and was Peterborough’s Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 1992.
In just his first year of football when he was in Grade 12, he was MVP for the Adam Scott Lions when they won the COSSA championship in 1986.
Knox later won the Vanier Cup national university football championship with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in 1991.
He then played for seven seasons with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, where he became captain of the Stampeders defence. He won the Grey Cup with the Stampeders in 1992 and 1998 and was a two-time CFL all-star.