Davis Alexander accuses Winnipeg Blue Bombers defender of taunting him over dead dad

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Shortly after winning the East Final and clinching a berth in the 113th Grey Cup, Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander accused Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive lineman David Reese of taunting him regarding the death of his father.

“Multiple times, [Reese] talked about my dead dad,” he said. “That had me ready to fight, we were all ready to fight, but I think that speaks to how much we’ve grown as a team in our composure, my composure. I definitely did fire up, but I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. I stayed in the game. I took a second, I went to the locker room — I needed a second, and my guys had my back, and that’s what it was.”

The 28-year-old lost his father, Matt, to lung cancer in 2024. He was 56.

Alexander has been public only about how close he and his father were. They spoke on the phone before and after every game since he was in high school.

“That’s f—ing horses—,” he said. “I don’t want to air the guy out, but it wasn’t just one time, it wasn’t twice. It was multiple times, and just everything that I’ve been through — I didn’t say a word to him. No matter what, there’s no need for that in the heat of the moment. There’s no excuse.”

“I’m glad Davis addressed what he said. Super disrespectful. There’s no place in our game for stuff like that,” said receiver Tyson Philpot. “He doesn’t deserve to play in this game if you want to act like that.”

Alouettes head coach Jason Maas was aware of Alexander’s accusation, though he hadn’t had a chance to speak to his franchise quarterback about it before addressing the media.

“I don’t know what was said. I didn’t hear the comments, either. I know our guys were very fired up when he did make those comments, whatever was made, It’s unsportsmanlike, you don’t want to hear that being said. A lot of things get said in football in the heat of emotion,” said Maas.

“I’ll leave it at that for now, and then at some point, [Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea] and I will talk about it, I’m sure, but I don’t want nothing to take away from what our guys did on the field, and I know Davis would never want that either.”

Reese played 17 regular-season games as a rookie with the Blue Bombers this year, recording 19 defensive tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He made a huge play in the East Semi-Final when he returned Chad Kelly’s fumble for a touchdown, though he didn’t make the stat sheet in the East Final.

Alexander finished 23-of-35 for 373 yards and two touchdowns in the 33-23 win.

“Games get heated, and Davis can heat people up, too, because he talks a lot as well. It never gets to that point, I know. I think when you’re in the heat of battle, things do get said, and they are meant to piss you off or to hurt you — to get you out of your mind, to stop thinking about football,” said Maas.

“It’s unfortunate when it ever does happen, it ever crosses a line. I would never want to see that happen, but I don’t want to speculate again until I talk to Davis, until I hear what was said, and therefore I’d like to not have it overshadow what was just accomplished by our whole team, and what we’re about to go accomplish.”