Montreal Alouettes offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage was ejected from his team’s Week 19 win over the Edmonton Elks for allegedly spitting on an opponent.
The incident occurred with 10:37 remaining in the fourth quarter following a three-yard run by quarterback Cody Fajardo. Lestage was seen after the play helping a defender off the turf and turning to walk away, before re-engaging with another opponent. The TSN broadcast did not capture video of what happened next.
“Obviously, football players don’t just spit on one another. There is usually a reason for it but there’s never a good reason to spit on anybody in our game. It’s a sign of disrespect, so you can imagine what it takes for you to spit on somebody and I’ll leave it at that,” head coach Jason Maas said of the incident post-game.
“It’s unacceptable and P-O knows that, we discussed that. No matter what happens, you’ve got to be better than that at that moment because it hurts us and it hurts him. I know how he feels about our team and the guys next to him and you let a guy down when you’re kicked out of the game.”
Lestage was immediately tossed from the game and Montreal was assessed a 25-yard penalty, which resulted in a Marloshawn Franklin interception.
The 26-year-old was originally selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 CFL Draft after an outstanding collegiate career at the Université de Montréal. He signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent and spent one season on the team’s practice roster, before joining the Alouettes mid-way through last year. He has since played in 26 contests, starting 21.
Montreal (10-7) has a bye next week, before wrapping up the regular season against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-9) on Saturday, October 28.
