At Least the Days are Getting Longer
It’s the final day of early bird pricing for season tickets and with it being just a year since Chris Jones took over, it may be a good time to review a few things prior to 2017 and the free agent rush.
The Riders this month let go of their trainers, not really citing a reason, but if you review the comments of Jones, the injury situation of the Riders was a problem in 2016. Of course not long after, Rider Marvin Golding was suspended for two games for using personal enhancing drugs.
It is highly unlikely the two are connected, especially since Golding was suspended for four years in Canadian University ranks in 2015 after the CFL combine evaluations where he failed a test. That didn’t affect his CFL eligibility and so this is considered his first suspension in CFL ranks.
Of course when you bring in 200 players looking for jobs, it probably comes as no surprise some of them will use whatever means necessary to get their foot in the door. Golding was primarily used on special teams, although he would have been regarded as Canadian depth at linebacker, and considering he wasn’t drafted, would be regarded as a net gain by a team with a laughable Canadian content.