The Canadian Football League has fined Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish an undisclosed amount for mooning fans during Sunday’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.
The CFL announced the disciplinary action on Monday for Cornish’s “inappropriate conduct” in what has become known as the Moon over Mosaic Stadium.
The league’s disciplinary move followed a media release by the Stamps, which also fined Cornish an undisclosed amount. The media release contained comments from Cornish, the Stamps president/chief operating officer Lyle Bauer and the team’s general manager/head coach John Hufnagel.
The exact nature of the incident was not divulged by either the CFL or the Stamps, but Cornish’s actions caught the eyes of some fans seated in the East section of the stadium and triggered dialogue on chat lines and the Riders’ radio post-game show.
“The incident was a mistake on my part,” Cornish said in the statement. “I definitely took things too far and it reflects poorly on the organization. First of all, I want to apologize to Coach Huff, all the coaches, my teammates, all the Stampeders fans and Stampeders organization and to the Riders fans and organization. It was an extreme lack of judgment on my part and I apologize to everyone in the CFL and to the Commissioner. Nobody deserves to deal with this and I apologize to everyone involved.”
Bauer added: “It’s an embarrassing incident that does not reflect the expectations we have for our players. We have great pride in the organization and respect for our opponents and their fans. I believe that Jon Cornish learned a great lesson in being a true professional today and the proof of that is his willingness to stand up and admit his error publicly.”
Hufnagel commented: “I think you see how disappointed Jon is in himself once he fully realized the seriousness of the matter. I’m very disappointed in Jon Cornish. He took things way too far and it needs to be dealt with. I’ve had a chat with Jon about it, he knows my feelings about it, he knows our president Lyle Bauer’s feelings about it. He will be disciplined.”
Cornish was the object of much attention going into the game as the leading rusher in the CFL. Riders’ head coach Corey Chamblin publicly guaranteed Cornish would not rush for over 100 yards in the game or a player would be cut.
Cornish totalled only 67 yards on 12 carries, one of which was stopped by an official inadvertently crossing into his path. Cornish spiked the ball in anger and pointed to the official.
The Riders won 30-25.