THURSDAY COMMENTARY

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)

It ended up being a tempest in a teapot. But for sure, it was one of the week’s most underrated stories.

The CFL’s Edmonton Elks were accused of “egregious and unprofessional” tactics by a young player who attended their free agent camp in Pasadena, CA in late-April.

When I saw the headline at FootballScoop.com, saying exactly that, I thought to myself, “Uh oh, what’s Jones done now?”

But then I read the article. The complaint came from the agent of former Texas Longhorns punter Daniel Trejo. The player rep said his client had to endure and suffer setting up his own pylons on the field – some were even asked to run a stopwatch! – and he was made to wait a full SEVEN hours and FIFTEEN MINUTES in 70-plus Fahrenheit temperatures before the punting portion of the workout was held!

Dear Lord, I hope they’ve gotten the kid counselling.

Ever waited five hours at a dance recital for a 3-minute routine? We all did it with a smile.

Repeat after me — “Patience is the greatest lesson we’ll ever learn in our lifetime.”

 


After reading the article I shrugged, snickered a bit, and realized this is simply a typical Chris Jones workout. I’ve attended many in Florida and so too have literally thousands of players across the USA. No one had a complaint, until this guy.

If I read the article properly, all of the CFL head office, the CFLPA and the Elks were made aware of the complaint but all of them are washing their hands of it.

I know there are people reading this who don’t like Chris Jones, and that’s fine. He’s always been good to me. That’s just how human relations go. Don’t be mad at me.

But he’s not going to be disciplined for this, even if some in the media and football world have said this “isn’t a good look” for the Elks.

No, it’s a spoiled, entitled kid who’s about to get a rude awakening when he enters the real world and his butt’s stopped being kissed by Longhorns fans.

Hey – I waited eight hours in the lobby of the Sun Coast Casino in Las Vegas to interview Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and was grateful to finally get a chance to talk to him!

Ray Elgaard was with me and can verify.

Maybe I’m the screwball because I’m willing to endure the things that people like Mr. Trejo won’t.

 

But I got all the fun stories.

 

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, WQEE, Podcast & YouTube Live)

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BRG
BRG
1 year ago

Kids today… sighhhhh

Ryan
Ryan
1 year ago

… pass the pacifier: either entitlement or wants attention. do you think any team wants to have anything to do with him now?

adventcollander
adventcollander
1 year ago

I don’t disagree with you in principle but some of that sounds like ego from Jones too. There are plenty of pro football teams that manage to run the same scale tryouts without doing this. “Professional” football means running every aspect from the trainer, coaches and facilities at a higher level than a high school tryout. When you are a winning coach sometimes acting like a prick is overlooked and you get called “eccentric” but when you haven’t won a championship (or a home game) in a long time folks get to have a lot more to say about your… Read more »

Tom
Tom
1 year ago

I agree, some of that would boil down to Jones’ attitude.

Norm
Norm
1 year ago

Was Daniel’s mom on hand to change his pamper?

Robert
Robert
1 year ago

SRrs rook Dalke personally put a big 🎯 on back across the cfl after lipping off in the local regina media about his hits and people crying about them. Guess he’ll learn when he’s laying on the turf crying.