Photo: Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes released Shawn Oakman two weeks ago for breaching what general manager Danny Maciocia called their “core values,” but head coach Jason Maas does not appear to think any less of the defensive lineman for the allegations against him.
“He’s got his things he’s dealing with. We’ve got ours, and we’re going to stay strong with one another,” Maas said in Winnipeg on Tuesday. “It doesn’t change how we feel about him or what he did for us in our building, but we’ve got to move on, we’ve got to do the things we’re doing, and that’s it. It’s all about focus right now and on the Montreal Alouettes.”
Oakman was suspended indefinitely by the Canadian Football League on October 31 after a third-party investigation found he violated their gender-based violence and harassment policy. According to the CFL, the 33-year-old allegedly threatened to send sexually explicit material to an intimate partner’s child, who is a minor.
The Alouettes released the 33-year-old later that same day, with Maciocia stating the team holds employees to “the highest standard of integrity and respect both on and off the field.”
“I think that as a human being, knowing Shawn, knowing the man who played for us and all those things, I have empathy for him that way. But choices and things that are done are done,” Maas said about the situation. “I don’t know all the particulars of everything, and I don’t know how it’s going to all play out in the end. I know he’s not with us any longer, I know he’s not playing the CFL right now, so what’s been done has been done.”
Oakman was signed by the Alouettes as a free agent in February and dressed for 17 regular-season games, recording 34 defensive tackles and five sacks. He was named an East Division All-CFL selection two days prior to his suspension being announced.
The Alouettes elected to cut ties with the six-foot-eight, 280-pound defender on the eve of their East Semi-Final matchup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, placing the team in a difficult situation due to pre-existing injuries along the defensive line. Maas revealed the player leadership group was not consulted in that decision, insisting that their primary focus was on winning a playoff game.
“They didn’t have any say, I’ll say that first and foremost. It was right before our game, so when I went in the locker room the day we played, it was ‘compete, focus and discipline’ and the focus part was, ‘let’s focus on us right now,’” Maas said. “Having talked to Shawn, that’s what he wanted, was for us to focus on us and the game at hand, and he needed to focus on what he needed to do.”
“The fact of the matter is, we repeated the same line — there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s in other hands.”
Through 76 games in his CFL career, Oakman has registered 156 defensive tackles, 27 sacks, five forced fumbles, one interception, and one special teams tackle. He won a Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and has been named an East Division all-star three times, earning one All-CFL nod.
The native of Philadelphia, Penn. was the subject of several off-field incidents before arriving in the CFL.
In 2012, he was kicked off Penn State University’s football team for violating team rules after he was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, and retail theft for shoving a female cashier in the dining hall. Six months later, he was named in a domestic violence complaint in Waco, Texas, though charges were never filed. Oakman was also accused of sexually assaulting a Baylor University student in 2016, which went to trial with Oakman being found not guilty in February 2019.
According to the CFL’s gender-based violence and harassment policy, those with a history of previous violations are to be met with more serious punishments in most cases, as, according to the league, “these behaviours often indicate a tendency towards violence and a higher risk of future violence.” In its decision to suspend Oakman, the league reiterated that they have zero tolerance for violence or harassment, whether public or private.
The Alouettes have advanced to the 112th Grey Cup without Oakman in the lineup. Maas hopes both the player and the team can now turn the page.
“The one thing that I would say always is you’ve got to live and grow no matter what, in any situation,” he said. “We have to deal with what we’re dealing with. He’s got to deal with what he’s dealing with. They’re two separate things right now. That’s all I really will say about it.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16 with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, while the Roughriders came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Montreal franchise quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games due to a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.
This marks the fifth time the Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg and the second time it will be hosted at Princess Auto Stadium. The venue’s first Grey Cup was held in 2015 when the Edmonton Football Team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks by a score of 26-20 and Michael Reilly was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
