CFL hits Argonauts QB Chad Kelly with minimum nine-game ban
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Published May 07, 2024 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 2 minute read
After initially dragging its feet on the Chad Kelly sexual harassment accusations, the CFL on Tuesday came down hard on the Toronto Argonauts star quarterback.
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Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has suspended Kelly for at least half the 2024 season – and it could be longer if Kelly doesn’t satisfactorily complete mandatory counselling and assessments by an independent expert.
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That removes the reigning Most Outstanding Player Award winner from the league’s top regular-season team last year.
Ambrosie issued a statement saying that investigation found Kelly “unequivocally violated” the league’s gender-based violence policy.
“Players are the ambassadors of our great game,” Ambrosie said in the statement. “They are expected to be leaders in the locker room and role models in the community. Mr. Kelly’s suspension is the direct result of his behaviour. The addition of mandatory counselling focuses on his need for self-reflection and understanding of his actions.
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“He must take full advantage of this opportunity for personal betterment in order to return to the CFL.”
Ambrosie says he’ll also talk to Toronto management about its handling of the issue.
Back in February, a former strength coach for the Argonauts filed a lawsuit accusing Kelly of repeated sexual harassment.
The coach says team management didn’t take her complaint seriously and she was let go in January for reporting it.
The league’s policy on violence against women has been in place for nearly a decade, and calls for action after any report of violence involving an employee.
In the lawsuit, the woman says she reported the harassment to Argos management, only to be told she’d needlessly opened “a can of worms.”
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The former coach alleges Kelly repeatedly made advances over the last two seasons, eventually becoming aggressive and yelling derogatory things at her in front of others, even cursing her name in the quarterback meeting room.
A full week after the lawsuit became public, Ambrosie issued a statement saying the league had opened its own investigation.
The slow initial response drew criticism last month from former B.C. Lions star quarterback Nathan Rourke, pursuing a job in the NFL.
Some league employees reportedly walked away from their jobs after their concerns weren’t taken seriously.
Argos GM Michael “Pinball” Clemons said at the CFL combine in Winnipeg in March the team was still planning to have Kelly as its starting quarterback.
Less than two hours after the CFL announced the suspension, the team released a statement saying it “will respectfully abide by” the league’s decision.
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