Outside of a sinkhole swallowing Mosaic Stadium, it's hard to imagine how the past two weeks could have gone any worse for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The bad news began on Sept. 8 when the Riders were hit with a double whammy: Not only did they lose to the Blue Bombers, 25-13, but middle linebacker Rey Williams, who was leading the team in both tackles and sacks at the time, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will miss the rest of the season.
Those, as they say, are the breaks of the game. Sad, unlucky, brutal - whatever label you want to affix to Williams's injury, it's hard to call it anything other than an occupational hazard.
What happened next? Well, that's a little different.
On Sept. 12, news broke that two Riders, defensive back Dwight Anderson and wide receiver Taj Smith, had been arrested and charged with aggravated assault in connection with a fight at a Regina nightclub on Aug. 18.
The next day, wide receiver Eron Riley became the third member of the team to be charged in relation with the incident that left the 20-year-old alleged victim with injuries that will "probably have a lasting effect", according to police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich.
For a team whose history is littered with legal problems for its players (a code of conduct was instituted in 2007 following multiple incidents), this is the kind of story that can derail what once looked like a perfect season.
Of course, the legal difference between being charged and being convicted is as wide as the Grand Canyon, a fact fans would be wise to remember before throwing Anderson, Smith and Riley under the bus. Firm conclusions about what happened outside that club can't be drawn until the legal process plays itself out over the course of the next few months (all three players are due back in court Oct. 8).
The Roughriders have never been as popular as they are now, but the team's management risks alienating its fans if there is no penalty for Anderson, Smith or Riley. I'm a big believer in the presumption of innocence, but outside of a courtroom there should also be consequences for your actions.
This past week, at least, there were no consequences. Both Anderson and Smith started as the Riders lost their second game in a row, 31-29 to Toronto. Riley was not on the active roster, but probably because he's a fringe player anyways, not because the team was punishing him for his alleged role in the fight.
By comparison, the New England Patriots released star tight end Aaron Hernandez only two hours after he was arrested in June for the alleged execution-style murder of Odin Lloyd. In a statement released at the time, the Patriots said they felt it was "simply the right thing to do."
Of course, Hernandez's alleged crime is of an entirely different (and more serious) nature than that of the Riders players. I don't think the team should release Smith, Anderson and Riley, but to do nothing is a tacit acceptance of the situation, and that seems wrong.
It may turn out that Anderson, Smith and Riley committed no wrong in the eyes of the law, but they have abdicated their responsibility to be positive community members and should pay the price. Whether that's a one-game or indefinite suspension is up to the team, but to do nothing sends the message that the team values football above anything else.
Let's hope that's not the case.
