Henoc Muamba’s two-year-old daughter, Thea, will remain a part of the Montreal Alouettes linebacker’s off-season workouts for a little while longer.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie postponed the start of training camps indefinitely Monday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hardly a surprise given the NHL, NBA, MLS, and Major League Baseball have all had to either suspend or delay the start of their seasons.
“The ongoing global pandemic and the resulting directives issued by various governments make it unsafe to proceed with plans to gather our athletes and coaches together as scheduled,” Ambrosie said in a statement.
Rookie camps were scheduled to open May 13 with training camps starting four days later.
The CFL had already cancelled two regional combines and national combine while postponing its April 16 global draft. The Canadian draft remains set for April 30.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has forced CFL clubs to limit their facilities to only those players rehabbing injuries, and even then only one at a time. Gyms across North America have also closed their doors, forcing many players to be innovative in their workouts.
‘You have to find a way’
So last week, Muamba and teammate James Wilder Jr. both tweeted good-natured videos of them hoisting their young children above their heads as part of their new lifting regiments.
“You have to find a way,” Muamba said with a chuckle. “As much as I know the league wants to start the season on time and fans want to watch, we can’t do that until we know it’s going to be completely safe for players, coaches and fans alike.”
As Montreal’s player rep, Muamba wasn’t surprised by the move. The CFL and CFLPA have been discussing contingency plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Obviously it’s more challenging but at the end of the day it’s part of being a professional,” Muamba said. “You have to find a way to stay prepared and ready for when the time comes that we’re all called in to training camp.”
Montreal Alouettes linebacker Henoc Muamba poses with the trophy for the most outstanding Canadian award at the CFL Awards in November 2019. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Brian Ramsay, the CFLPA’s executive director, said the league’s decision best serves all involved.
“The health, safety and well-being of all players is our priority during these extraordinarily uncertain times,” he said in a statement. “And while it wasn’t an easy decision to postpone training camps, it’s in the best interest of our players, their families, fans and all those close to the game.”
Virus will dictate timetable
But with camps starting later, conventional wisdom suggests the CFL will have to also reschedule the start of its regular season, which is slated for June 11. And if that happened, the traditional 18-game campaign would have to be reduced in order get a season in and still have it culminate with the Grey Cup game Nov. 22 in Regina.
“As for our future plans, we are in the hands of our public health officials,” Ambrosie said. “We acknowledge their timetable will be dictated by the virus itself.
“We will make further decisions when we can and share them with our fans and the public as soon as possible.”
For veteran linebacker Marcus Ball, a CFL free agent, the later start to camp means more time to prepare and spend with his wife and two young children in Atlanta. As a personal trainer in the off-season, Ball has been able to get in solid home workouts after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2019 with Calgary.
“I think everyone kind of expected that would happen,” he said. “It’s a very unfortunate situation . . . but the CFL is a very strong, smart and aware league that’s always taken care of the players’ interests so this is no surprise for them to push back training camp.
“It will be a good thing because this (COVID-19) isn’t just in a particular region, it’s a world-wide pandemic and everyone is suffering from it. This will give more time to plan and prepare, not to say I wanted or wished for more time, it’s having to play the cards you’re dealt.”
Family time
And that could also mean more viewings for Ball of the Disney film Frozen 2 with his kids.
“Frozen 2 has been a crowd favourite right now,” Ball said. “I’m trying to get away from it but the kids love it.
“But it’s a dope movie, it’s pretty cool.”
Running back Charlie Power of the Calgary Stampeders was expecting Monday’s announcement. He said while the novel coronavirus outbreak is forcing players to change their off-season workouts, it’s also creating potential financial concerns.
“The biggest impact has just been from everything closing down . . . so you have to modify how you’re training,” he said. “On the other side of things, it’s stretching the funds from last season to make sure you can make it until a season gets going.
“Everyone realizes this is bigger than football but at the same time players in the CFL aren’t making the typical pro athletes’ salary where we can survive for a long time. It’s about figuring out how to stretch those funds while at the same time staying motivated and realize there’s going to be a time when the season gets going again and you have to remain ready.”
Receiver DeVier Posey, who signed with Hamilton this off-season as a free agent, saw the CFL’s decision coming.
“It makes total sense,” said Posey, the ’17 Grey Cup MVP. “COVID-19, for me as a football player, is a wakeup call and I hope everyone else understands what other skills they’re good and open their minds to the different platforms they can perform on.
“People in the medical world or who work other jobs like in grocery stores or garbage disposal, those people are true heroes. We (pro athletes) aren’t the true heroes of the country, we only provide the true heroes their entertainment and I am appreciating that perspective.”
Muamba added times like this allow players to think more about life after football.
“I think it’s important for every player to analyze where they’re at in their life and career,” Muamba said. “Just to kind of self reflect and see if you were to transition from the game, where exactly are you.
“The extra time gives us a chance to also dive into different things “
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
