Montreal v Hamilton 9/16/16

Alouettes de Montréal
1

First of 2 days of Practice on Tuesday. According to John Lu and Didier Orméjuste:

Cato throws a pick. Then he has words with Stafford and then Carter. Kavis Reed escorts Cato off the field to calm down. Cato comes back and proceeds to shove Carter.

Video of Cato shoving Carter

[url=https://twitter.com/JeremyFilosa/status/775739942546776064]https://twitter.com/JeremyFilosa/status ... 2546776064[/url]

More:
Cato is removed again by Kavis Reed, John Bowman and Eric Deslauriers. Cato is heard yelling "Y'all both pussies" to Carter and Stafford.

Video of Cato leaving:

[url=https://twitter.com/JeremyFilosa/status/775740595100721153]https://twitter.com/JeremyFilosa/status ... 5100721153[/url]

Some fans heard Cato say: "That's why we're 3-8 and that's why we're gonna be 3-9"

2

Very interesting that neither the OC nor the head coach are involved here. Who's calming Cato down? Kavis Reed ... the special teams coordinator.

3

Cato on Stafford and Carter: "They are disrespecting me."

4

According to Jeremy Filosa, Duron Carter said: 'I don't know, it wasn't my fault this time, I got to the party late. He (Cato) just does that .

5

As i wrote months ago, I never understood why Jim Popp signed Kenny Stafford; as already written, most probably because he was the cousin of Duron Carter.

I would release Stafford immediately, no matter the impact on cap,although not that high. Same could be done with Carter. Would send a message to the team. The impact won't be that much on cap, since he has already received a good portion of his contract with a signing bonus.

I rather lose with players dedicated to the team.

Richard

6

I am not 100% sure what the issue is between the players, but according to Joey Alfieri, Cato said: "As a human, you can't keep being pinched, pinched, pinched and not do anything. Eventually, that dog's gonna bite.

7

More from Joey Alfieri.

-He asked Duron Carter about the Kevin Glenn trade. Carter's response was: "To me, it just seems like every team is getting better. We didn't get any better.

-Kenny Stafford: "He's still my starting QB. I'm behind Rakeem Cato. You see, the kid can play."

8

I would release Stafford for sure. Not Carter. That's cutting off your nose to spite your face. Carter is still our best receiver and an elite talent. Taking him away, in a year when we lost Green very early to injury, would make us a farm team.

9

From John Lu:

-Rakeem Cato: "I don't take food out of people's mouths," in response to whether he would be less prone to throw to Stafford or Carter.

-Anthony Calvillo on the incident: "There are healthy blow ups and unhealthy ones. This is borderline unhealthy."

10

If the incident is "borderline-unhealthy," what's even worse is that neither the receivers coach nor the OC/QB coach nor the head coach were around to defuse this situation. It fell to other players, the special teams coordinator, and a scout (?!) to break up the altercation and resolve the situation. That's disgraceful! :thdn: :thdn: :thdn:

11

Especially given Stafford has brought nothing to the team this season.

12

While I agree not releasing Carter, given the circumstance Popp needs to make a statement here. This is getting ugly and why is it Carter seems to be in the mix every time?

13

This time, it was Cato and Stafford. Carter likely got involved because Stafford is his cousin and he was trying to calm things down. That’s another reason to cut Stafford. He creates this clique with Carter that is not conducive to locker-room chemistry.

14

Andropose

15

A little birdie hinted to me that a big reason why Cato is going nuts is because there are teammates making fun of him. He went through enough crap in his life he sure doesn't need that.

16

This team is a tire fire.

Seriously? Is the maturity level that low? Is the not one lick of leadership on this club? Tear it all down.

17

Rakeem Cato:

“It’s about respect,? a still-seething Cato said after he was brought back to speak to the media by Reed. “I may not know you from a can of paint, but I’m going to respect you every day.

“That’s how I feel about life. I’m not going to just take BS from anybody. I just want to be treated as a man. Nothing less.?

“The only thing I can do is come in and give 100 per cent and play hard for this team,? he said. “When I get sidetracked by one of my players who I’m going so hard for, who I’m ready to do anything for, it’s enough.

“You can’t take that as a quarterback. You have to stand your ground.?

Duron Carter:

“To me it just feels like every team’s getting better and we didn’t get any better,? he said. “That (Kevin Glenn) was our quarterback.

“That’s one of the reasons I came here — KG being a stable quarterback. But it’s football. Things happen.?

“We’ve got to focus-up, figure out what’s wrong with (Cato) and get back out here,? said Carter.

Kenny Stafford:

“He’s our starting quarterback,? he said. “I’m behind Rakeem Cato.

“The kid can play. He completed 75 per cent of his passes last game. No turnovers. He has a bright future. It was just a communication error between competitors and it’s not going to slow us down.?

Anthony Calvillo:

“This is the environment we’ve created,? said Calvillo. “Guys have been tweeting stuff, we address it and you go on.

“There have been tweets all year long and it just keeps going on. You fine guys and you go from there.?

Jim Popp:

“This is something that carried over from last week,? Popp said of Cato’s blowup. “It’s a personality thing.

“I just think tensions are high. Everyone wants to win. It was between him and a couple of receivers. (Practice) was running well before that took place.?

[url=http://montrealgazette.com/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes/blowup-at-alouettes-practice-an-issue-of-respect-qb-rakeem-cato-says]http://montrealgazette.com/sports/footb ... -cato-says[/url]
18

Man, if I`m an Als player the drug selling option is sure starting to look like a better one!

It`s funny I was on the Met lunchtime, drove by the Luongo Arena, and you could see the 3 Als yellow school buses neatly parked. Should have made a detour.

Sure would like to know what can possibly be said to Cato to make him crack like that. Joey Alfieri on Melnick said it might have to do with money, seeing he mentioned in a soundbite today how he supports his 2 daughters. I find that doubtful. I`m going to say it has to do with his enunciation.

As for Carter, he may not be a cancer, but he`s certainly a heart attack.

As for me, I`m getting a bag fitted for my head, very embarrassing to be a fan of this team.

19

From Kirk Penton's The Insiders Say:

-I thought they would get more than a fourth rounder, but Montreal did what they needed to. (Jim) Popp has won a lot more games than you media guys. Trading (Kevin) Glenn and giving the ball to Cato is good for his team. A young quarterback has to play if he’s going to develop. And getting rid of Glenn’s salary helps them with the cap.

-Rakeem Cato’s performance was about what I thought. He ran around and tried to make plays outside the framework of the offence — sometimes with success, most of the time without. He’s just not a consistent enough passer to win consistently. They have to limit his opportunities to throw down field by leaning on the run game and screens/quicks.

-Vaughn Martin is telling people he doesn’t plan to play in the CFL again.

[url=http://www.torontosun.com/2016/09/13/alouettes-qb-goes-ballistic-at-practice-escorted-out-of-facility]http://www.torontosun.com/2016/09/13/al ... f-facility[/url]
20

This organization finds itself trapped in a dark pit. No one can see the "light at the end of the tunnel" - which is both demoralizing and self-destructive.

This is symptomatic of a failure of leadership. The situation will not improve until a fundamental change at the top is completed, a revitalized vision is developed, and there is total "buy-in" from top to bottom.

It's too late for band-aids.