Well I have to say that this just breaks my heart.
Taj is a guy who joined this team when they really needed that extra guy to fill out the starting receiving corps. They tried TJ Harris, he didn't make the cut, then ditto Greg Carr. Through it all Taj waited his turn and then made the most of it, bit by bit getting more responsibility and coming through every time showing that he's a dependable pro who makes plays. He's paid his dues on and off NFL rosters trying to find a home and he EARNED one with the Riders and that's what endears me the most. He's been one of my favorite clutch players and it really breaks my heart that his time in Regina just might end this way.
I can't pass judgement on the fight last summer or even this breach of release stuff. I wasn't there. But there comes a point when you have to be a teammate and stay away from obvious trouble. And its probably a case of him promising to the coaching staff and to management that he would stay out of trouble until his trial and then breaking that trust (which is far more important to me anyways) rather than any minor transgression of the law of the land, but it sounds like Taj fumbled this week and now the team has to enforce its code.
I sincerely hope that further details in both the original fight and this current breach come out to paint Taj in a much better light, but until that happens the team has to do what it has to do.
The whole thing of I'm not a role model is a cop out in my books. What I mean by that is every adult should look at themselves as being a role model for our youth whether your mr superstar sports guy or the guy that nobody notices but always think these are nice clean facilities. We all have jobs to do and one of those jobs or responsibilities is to try and bring our youth up better then the generation before. To me that isn't happening and in fact seems to be going in the opposite direction. It is all a me now, look out for number one and to hell with the rest. Yes not all athletes are good morale people just like all are not bad I guess the point I was trying to make is everyone should try to set a good example for our kids and Taj is not living up to that at the moment.
Disagree completely. Other people’s perceptions are beyond your control anyways. It is not fair to expect someone to waste valuable time on this Earth living up to other people’s standards. Society worships heroes far too much as it is. Players are human beings like anybody else and when they leave the stadium they are entitled to a private life like anybody else.
Now if I were to get wasted and urinate in public, and then explain it by saying that Ozzy Osboune was my role model, now THAT would be a cop out. Refusing to be a role model is not a cop out.
Getting back to Taj Smith, the way that I see it, we know that he was involved in a fight in a bar last summer. he was arrested and charged. His release until trial contained certain stipulations of which at least one was broken this week. Now, the way that I see it, when he was arrested and charged he was brought into the team office for a meeting. This is purely my speculation but I would imagine Chamblin, Taman and Hopson sat down and said, 'Taj, can you promise to us that you will stay out of trouble until your trial date?" and Taj probably agreed t o that promise. If so, then this week he broke that promise to his TEAM and THAT is why he’s not playing this week, and THAT’s what matters. To be a teammate, there is a certain level of trust expected. If you cannot meet that level of trust, you cannot be on the team.
I don't see a big deal about this , so tell him he gets one more chance and that's the end of it. teams will be lining up to sign him, just because you make one mistake in life doesn't mean you should.pay for it with your job. it' not even a very serious , cut the young man some slack and talk to him and move on.
I love Taj as a player and a person. But what the heck was he thinking? He knows the deal and let down his team-mates the organization, fans and of course himself. How can the team trust him again? Bring him back and not know if he will be available week to week because he may be in jail again. IMHO I think Taj is done as a Rider. It is a shame as he is a stand-up guy and a playmaker albeit one who doesn't seem to realize the consequences of some of the choices he makes.
This isn’t one mistake. It is at least the 2nd mistake that is built on the 1st mistake.
Secondly, he breached his release conditions which means more likely than not that he will NOT be allowed to travel until a hearing and new conditions are imposed (or he says sorry and they re-instate same conditions again). He is also an American with a conviction in Canada that could prevent him from returning to Canada if he leaves, making the circumstances of losing his job all his.
Let you without sin cast the first stone? Someone is vindictive to report he was in a bar in Ottawa. The young gentleman who was beaten up probably was attempting to impress his girlfriend ,or pals. To bad he picked on a football player in shape. It will be interesting to see what his background reveals. Further to suggest releasing him is ludicrous,he is fearless in his routes behind the line of scrimmage,and speed for the deep ball . Suggesting football players like him are a dime a dozen ,shows you know little, look across the league and who would you replace him with other than Qwens from Toronto. :roll:
the “victim’s” background is definitely out there, as is the story of what happened that night, as is the fact that the given party happened to be in court the same day as the 3 Riders were…on different charges. I know all of that has been posted on here and elsewhere with pretty good detail. That said, 2/3 of the Rider and Als players that were there that night knew when it was time to ditch the scene earlier…yeah, a mistake many fall into, but it was a pretty explosive situation and they should have followed…I will say that if it is me and I am one of those other players in that situation, I probably phone someone on staff to come down and mitigate potential issues by encouraging the guys to head home…something players need to start doing for each other when judgements are impaired…same as I would do for my friends, and they me. Front offices need to hammer that home with players…it is like being the teen that goes out drinking and phones home for a ride…year there might be some pissyness then and there about it, but in the morning both sides are going to be happy the call was made.
I will take this post another direction. We can go on and on about what Taj did. He went into a bar and was missing in action for a long time.
He’s handed an opportunity to Schilens. The team tried this guy inside and his running style does not seem conducive to the inside. But at WR…that is where I always thought this dude should be. He’s tall in that 6’2" or 6’4" range…so Chaz has an opportunity to impress tonight. You know how this business works…if Chaz can deliver that puts nails into Smith’s coffin.
Next man up! And our 2nd draft pick is backup WR and we’ll see him out there at times!!! Everyone moves up.
We all feel bad for Taj. But he made his bed. I have travelled Quebec. Partying in Montreal is like nowhere else. Downtown is as busy at 4am as it is at 8pm. But as a pro player you need to recognize you are on business, you have a ridiculous turnaround of 5 days. Better to maybe take care of the bumps and bruises? Just saying? At the same time he is innocent until proven guilty…
yeah,, what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty ? ... a poster a few posts back indicated he was convicted , to my knowledge this has not gone to court yet and there are just a bunch of accusations at hand, including this one
Well, he is guilty of breaking the court mandated guidelines. That we know.
I thought he would walk on the charges (be found not guilty), but bad press does not help that.
Aggravated assault is not serious? A bit higher up from there is manslaughter. You might want to read his bio. 27 fights in high school, previous aggravated assault charge. He might have used up his quota of chances. Violation of bail conditions in most cases gets you thrown in jail.
The reason people go to watch football games is to see their heroes win. So yes people look up to the guys on their team. If you go to a Winnipeg game you will see a huge number of No. 85 jerseys because people want to be somehow connected to Milt. It will be interesting how this plays out in view of their code of conduct.
I have been back and forth on how this should be handled, but I like the was BT spoke about it and agreed with most of what he said. I am glad they are focusing on helping him as a person while emphasizing the last chance aspect.
Can't say I'm happy about the one more (third chance) given. It's reminding me a little too much back to the days of Roy Shivers and why a code of conduct was brought in. Guilty or not of the charge on assault, he is 100% guilty of breaching the terms of his release and the riders code of conduct. He obviously valued his right to party more than those rules. He doesn't have the cleanest innocent past and was given a second chance in the CFL and has squandered them away. I don't like the distraction it brings to the team or it's fans.
While I do agree that I too am not thrilled with the distraction this brings I also am one for giving him one last chance but with an extremely short leash. Heck everyone makes mistakes some are worse then others. With a pending case for assault I would have thought he would have been wise enough and mature enough to realize where he should or should not be. If he was walking down the street and someone was getting beat up or robbed and he stepped in and he got arrested for being in an altercation that would be different but to be in a strip club where I assume alcohol was served then he should have known this isn’t a good idea. If he gets the help he needs and if he does some community work and keeps to the straight and narrow then fine give him his chance to redeem himself. If though he goes with the guys or out on his own to a night club then sorry out you go. i’m sure the rest of the team has been given instructions not to entice him to attend such functions and I hope they consider him in doing activities that while is fun it won’t get him in hot water. Nothing wrong with going to a restaurant with the guys but stay the hell away from alcohol. The rest of the team should also refrain from drinking around him as again it can be guilt by association. I hope he has learned a very valuable lesson and does choose the right thing to do as he is a good player and one that could help the team. Time for him to be making headlines for good football play and not the negative off the field stuff.
That kind of stuff is EXACTLY what I’m talking about why he should be gone. Why would anyone expect the team, who has followed the code and kept out of trouble, be expected to adjust what is working for them to accommodate someone that has repeatedly been in trouble and has shown repeated poor judgment. The CFL is not a rehab facility, it is a professional sports league full of professional players that is to hold the brand at the highest level it can.
Yes but what is wrong with helping out a team mate? You mean if you had a friend that has problems with alcohol that you wouldn’t be conscious of it and perhaps abstain from having a drink when you went out for a meal? I know I would. I mean if I can’t go out and have a good time without having a drink then maybe I have a problem too.
This guy isn’t a rookie that hasn’t contributed to the teams success last year and has been around for a couple of seasons so would it kill any of the team to give the guy a hand? I’m not saying that guys can’t go out and have a cold brew and they can do that when he isn’t with that particular group of players. Yes it is a professional sport but these guys are human also, they have feelings and they have good times and bad times just like the rest of us. When these guys are up here and have no family or old friends they do rely on team mates for company and act as a family while they are away from home. Right now he is still a member of the Rider family and should be treated as such and as with any family member you try to help them where and when you can and yes there are time you have to take the hard line and let even a family member face the consequences for themselves. I think that is where Taj stands right now, he gets one more chance to redeem himself and if he blows it then he will no longer be a Rider family member. I’m sure that has been made very clear to Taj and where he goes or what he does from here is up to him.
I absolutely agree. IMHO the easy way out would have been to cut Taj, but by not taking that easy path and instead choosing to maybe provide him some assistance, I think it speaks volumes about the professionalism of the organization. Yes he stepped on his “d*ck”, but loyalty has to go both ways sometimes and I think this was such an instance. Obviously each situation needs to be evaluated in it’s own right, but from what I know (admittedly little) of this particular incident, my hat’s off to the Rider brass.
