Head coach Bob Dyce became involved in a heated altercation following Thursday night’s tie with the Saskatchewan Roughriders after an unidentified individual began harassing him and his players at field level.
“It was right before the field goal, there was someone talking to our players in a way I didn’t feel was appropriate, who, I believe, had no credentials,” Dyce told the media post-game. “I’m not going to let anybody talk to our players like that, and then he’s talking to me and I’m certainly not going to let him talk to myself like that.”
Lewis Ward hit a 14-yard field goal in double overtime to end the game in a 22-22 tie, but the dying minutes of the contest were filled with chaos and controversy. Saskatchewan appeared to win on a fumble recovery earlier on the final drive and the game was ruled over, only for the CFL’s command centre to intervene and rule roughing the passer on the play.
That forced action to resume after several players had already retreated to the locker room and members of the general public had descended onto the turf. While it was originally believed that the alleged perpetrator arrived amidst that chaos, photographic evidence obtained by 3DownNation shows that he was there as early as the start of overtime.
TSN cameras captured glimpses of a kerfuffle on the Ottawa bench following the deciding kick, as a mass of Redblacks’ players and staff rushed to their coach’s defence. Dyce had to be physically restrained as the situation was defused by officials.
WHAT CHAOS.
After both teams had challenges in overtime that resulted in victory being snatched away, the game ENDS IN A TIE!
What a bonkers finish! #CFLGameday #CFLonTSN pic.twitter.com/EnMx9tdyXY
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 9, 2024
The veteran coach declined to elaborate on the nature of the language that sparked the incident but stated that the individual was not authorized to be in proximity to his team.
“He shouldn’t have been there, and he shouldn’t have been talking to our players, and he certainly seemed like he felt like he had the authority,” Dyce insisted. “Like I said, I’m not going to let anybody talk to our players like that, and I’m not going to let anybody talk to me, and I’m not going to let anybody use terms that I feel are disrespectful, and that’s that.”
The chaotic finish to the game left many players confused as to what was happening on their sideline. With both team benches situated on the same side of the field at TD Place Stadium, speculation initially circulated that the culprit was a member of the Roughriders’ staff, though that appears to have been a false rumour.
According to video of the incident captured by 3DownNation, Saskatchewan offensive coordinator Marc Mueller and at least two opposing players, defensive back Godfrey Onyeka and receiver Mitch Picton, appeared to step in to help separate the fracas. Head coach Corey Mace is seen directing his players to remain on their portion of the sideline.
“Someone who wasn’t supposed to be on the field was on the field, and that’s all I saw. I think there was just a miscommunication,” linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox recounted in the locker room. “If he was on the Rider’s staff, he was very unrecognizable. I even heard Coach Mace say, ‘That’s not one of our guys.’ I think we all were confused and Coach Mace was just as confused. Like, what the hell is this thing? What’s going on right now?”
Dyce described the offender as wearing a camo jacket with a beard and a nose ring. Yanick St-Denis, a journalist for francophone radio station 104.7 FM in Outaouais, captured what may be the only clear picture of a man matching that description. It has been cropped below for greater clarity, though the source image can be found here.
Dyce was unable to identify who the individual was during the confrontation and is leaving any further inquiries up to the Canadian Football League.
“I asked who he was, he didn’t answer,” the coach said. “I don’t have an exact answer to that. I think that’s something that the league has to investigate.”
Greg Dick, the CFL’s chief football operations officer and commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s right-hand man, was on the sideline for the altercation and is situated to the immediate left of the alleged perpetrator in the picture. Video shows an animated discussion between him, Dyce, and Redblacks’ general manager Shawn Burke as the man in camo is escorted off the field by a referee.
3DownNation has reached out to the CFL for comment on the incident but has not received a response.
It is unclear why TD Place security, which had at least one member on the Redblacks’ sideline, allowed the man to stay on the field for so long. All told, the entire incident lasted roughly two minutes.
The Redblacks (5-2-1) will return to action on Thursday, August 15 when they visit the Calgary Stampeders.
Editor’s note: this article was compiled with key files obtained by John Hodge, who was present in Ottawa for the game.
