Jordan Matechuk, the CFL's version of Rudy, may have thrown it all away.
In the overall context of things, no one aside from his family and friends came to see Jordan Matechuk play football for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He is - perhaps was - a long snapper, a job that requires hiking the ball 15 yards between his legs in a tight spiral to the punter. It's one of those jobs that you only notice when it's flubbed. No one ever goes to games hoping to watch the long-snapper, but done well it's a job that can lead to a lengthy career because snapping a football is so specialized.
But a mistake in judgment compounded by either anxiety, fear or possibly not fully understanding the circumstances of his predicament has put Matechuk's football career on indefinite hold - quite possibly ending it - and the real possibility he may be headed for prison.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats released Matechuk on Wednesday, a few hours after they became aware he had been arrested on May 31 at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It seized a total of 543 anabolic steroid pills, 262 millilitres of anabolic steroids in liquid form, 1.25 grams of marijuana, 19 syringes, and 51 replacement needles. He was arrested and turned over to the Sault Ste Marie Police Department.
It turns out that is only part of the story. The Hamilton Spectator reported on Wednesday that county prosecutors charged Matechuk with two counts of possession of a controlled substance - one relating to Oxycontin, the other to steroids - both of which are felonies. He is also facing a misdemeanour charge relating to marijuana possession.
Matechuk faces up to four years in prison.
25-year-old exacerbated his situation by missing a court-ordered status conference on June 6 - the third day of the Ticats' training camp - after which a bench warrant was issued. His next court date is scheduled for June 13.
Matechuk, who was entering his fourth year in the Canadian Football League, was in transit to Hamilton from Alberta for the Tiger-Cats' training camp that began on Sunday at the time of his arrest. Why Matechuk did not immediately reveal his arrest to the Tiger-Cats, his agent Fred Weinrauch or a lawyer are sidebars to all of this. Clearly he was confused, troubled or totally uncertain what to do other than continue to Hamilton and ignore what had just happened.
Weinrauch told sportsnet.ca that Matechuk has checked himself into a rehab centre, clearly realizing now he needs assistance in sorting together his life.
Matechuk's arrest and subsequent fallout coincides with the first year of the CFL's crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs. The program, which some critics claimed took far too long to address compared to other leagues, involves year-round testing, beginning with 25% of players in 2011, increasing to 35% in 2012 and 2013. The testing is done randomly, unless a player has a previous violation in the CFL or any other league. The policy is intended to protect the integrity of the game by preventing and combating the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The policy is more about positive tests and the subsequent penalties. Matechuk's situation is different from the way the language of the document was written and intended.
Matechuk played a position that does not require bulk or build. He is listed at 5-foot-10, 234 pounds and was also a linebacker, but rarely, if ever, was employed in that role. So why was he involved with steroids anyway? If Matechuk intended to peddle the drugs, he was taking a chance of being caught. If he was using them, he was playing the equivalent of Russian Roulette because of the league's random testing. Either way, he ruined what he achieved - actually overachieved - because he was the CFL version of Rudy. He was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, which has a population of less than 20,000, and later played with the Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Junior Football League, which has an extremely small percentage of graduates that become professional football players. Matechuk impressed the Ticats to sign him to a free-agent contract in August, 2008 and paid him the league minimum salary of $41,000. The contract wouldn't have increased too much over the years.
But this feel-good story has gone awry. His face and name are plastered in media outlets throughout Canada and, to a lesser degree, in the U.S.
This is the era of sports and steroids and Jordan Matechuk has now been linked to it.
This is the second major drug story this year involving a CFL player and drug possession. In May, the B.C. Lions released Yonus Davis, the West Division finalist last year as the top special teams player, after he was charged with one felony count of attempting to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He was arrested in April at a home he was renting with possession of more than 27 kilograms of ecstasy.
The two incidents are independent and do not suggest the CFL has a problem with players and drugs. When you consider teams have rosters of 53 players plus a few more at any point in time with injuries, we're talking two out of a possible 480, so let's not make this into an epidemic.
It's a case of two players who got caught with drugs and will suffer the consequences of their actions.
