After nearly two years away from the game, Eric Tillman gets a shot at redemption.
For Eric Tillman, the long wait is over.
Almost two full seasons since he was actively seen working in the Canadian Football League, he'll be back out in public when the Edmonton Eskimos formally introduce him as the team's new general manager on Tuesday.
The Eskimos, sitting last in the CFL with a 2-8 mark, are in a shambles, and their search has landed them Tillman, an individual who stands out for more than his shock of red hair.
Tillman has been a presence off and on in the CFL for almost the last 20 years, having worked as a GM previously in B.C., Toronto and Saskatchewan, while also working as a television football analyst for major networks, including Sportsnet.
His resume includes Grey Cup victories with the Lions, Argos and Roughriders.
The last Cup came with Riders in 2007 in his first full season, following his hiring late in August the previous year. He took a franchise that was on the cusp of winning the Cup and guided it to the highest level.
He knows how to win.
Edmonton will be his toughest challenge, and not just because this is a franchise that is used to winning and has fallen on hard times and needs an overhauling of its coaching staff and its personnel.
The team is really a mess.
That is something that won't bother Tillman. He'll embrace the opportunity.
But Tillman will face a challenge of a different sort, mainly criticism from some people who have read and heard about his conviction earlier this year for the sexual assault of a teenager who babysat his and his wife's two young children.
There is no sense in rehashing all the details of the case, but suffice to say Tillman suffered a penalty on various levels. He managed the team from his home last year while the case was waiting to go to court. The Roughriders effectively paid him to work away from the team's premises to shield themselves from Tillman and the bad publicity surrounding him. In Regina and the province of Saskatchewan, he had gone from hero to zero. At one point he had a profile greater than the premier of Saskatchewan, which is why his fall from grace created headlines across the country.
His case, heard in early January this year, became a national story. While the court gave him an absolute discharge with no criminal record, he admitted he will carry his mistake to his grave. He thought with the court's ruling he could return to his job, but the Riders did not want him back, knowing it faced a dilemma because of its code of conduct. A decision had to be made, so Tillman resigned without any compensation. That effectively became his punishment.
He had no income and couldn't work in the U.S. because his wife is Canadian and doesn't have a working permit for the U.S. He also kept a fairly low profile in Regina, because public sentiment was split. Some in Rider Nation wanted him back, some wanted him out of town. So he sat around his home while the CFL carried on without him, wondering and hoping for a chance - any chance.
Almost everyone in the know figured that would eventually come, but not for at least one year - sufficient time for Tillman's transgression to slowly drift away. SPORTSNET.CA has learned at least one CFL organization considered hiring him in some kind of personnel role, but it failed to materialize. There had also been speculation that somehow after this season he would be hired by Toronto because of his past history with president Bob Nicholson and head coach Jim Barker.
But the Eskimos needed him badly. They interviewed him along with several other candidates and decided he was the best person for the job. Chat sites have been mixed so far, some voicing the opinion that the Eskimos did the right thing hiring the best person possible, while others are sickened by it, saying the fallen franchise has sunk to its lowest level.
To be sure, the Eskimos board chewed heavily on whether or not to hire Tillman, knowing it would have to address the negative backlash. The questions will come rapidly when Tillman is formally introduced. Both team chief executive officer Rick LeLacheur and Tillman will be asked about the morality of the hiring, which may supersede questions about the plans to resuscitate the Eskimos.
Tillman knew this day would come. He has undoubtedly prepared himself for it. He is an emotional person who has cried in public for his sin, and it wouldn't be surprising if he became emotional over this. He is that type of individual.
Slowly and surely, Tillman won't have to talk about what happened to him and will be able to concentrate solely on rebuilding a franchise that needs fixing.
Tillman is not only skillful in retooling a football team, he is also good at self promotion.
So not only will he be selling Edmontonians on his plans to revive the so-called Eskimo Way of pride, tradition and winning, he will also be selling himself to naysayers who could care less about his football savvy.
This may be his greatest sales job of all, but he has been given a second chance and it's up to him to make the best of it.
