Receiver Lawler in legal limbo

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This article was published 05/06/2023 (1146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A poor decision by Kenny Lawler two years ago has cost him, at the very least, the beginning of the 2023 CFL season.

Lawler was arrested in Winnipeg for impaired driving on Oct. 4, 2021. The Bombers sat him for a game, and not much was heard or said about the incident since, that is until the club added their star receiver to the suspended list last Thursday.

Suspended players don’t get paid and the Bombers estimate Lawler’s suspension will last three to four weeks.

The move was made because Lawler pleaded guilty to the charge two months ago, thus making him an American with a conviction. The result of that is the 28-year-old Californian having immigration/work visa issues, and until that gets sorted, he can’t play.

“I feel for Kenny,” said quarterback Zach Collaros on Monday. “From all accounts it seemed like it kind of came out of left field that day. We’re all going to be there for him, and obviously we’d like for him to be around. I don’t know if that will be able to be taken care of or not.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea said the situation is out of the team’s control and that these types of things can take a long time to sort out.

“Sure, it’s disappointing. Most importantly, he’s getting what he needs from teammates,” said O’Shea. “They’re showing him a lot of support. It’s unfortunate this has come about this way, but we’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.”

Biggie and Brady are back

Adam Bighill’s reason for missing training camp was an unexpected one.

The veteran linebacker was a full participant on Monday for the first time this season. Afterward, Bighill revealed to reporters that it was an infected toenail that knocked him out for nearly three weeks.

One media member asked him if he was joking or not.

“No, I’m serious. It can be painful,” said the 34-year-old.

The three-time winner of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award believes it was caused when he was trying to break in a new pair of cleats.

He’s now back to wearing his old reliable white and blue Air Jordans.

“If you’re training and getting ready for the season, trying out new cleats and doing different stuff, things happen. At the end of the day, that’s the way she goes,” said Bighill.

“I’ve worn these cleats for two years, and I’ve been trying to find another pair of cleats that I like, and I can’t quite find a pair that I like like these.”

Running back Brady Oliveira also returned Monday from a long absence as the Winnipegger had been out since the second day of camp. Unlike Bighill, Oliveira wouldn’t reveal what kept him on the sidelines.

Both will play Friday’s season opener at IG Field against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and both assured they will be ready despite having a layoff.

“In my mind there was definitely that fear and doubt, like am I going to miss (Week 1)? Starting the season on that would have been a shame,” said Oliveira.

“But Al (Couture, the team’s director of health and performance) was there to tell me, ‘Hey, you’re going to be alright. You’re going to be there for Week 1. Just trust me.’ You’ve got to learn to trust and that’s exactly what I did.”

Oliveira, 25, is entering his fourth CFL season, and second as the starting tailback for his hometown Bombers. After a slow start to 2022, the University of North Dakota product finished with 1,001 rushing yards, five total touchdowns, and a 5.0 yards per carry average.

Oliveira lived in Bali for two months this offseason with his girlfriend Alex Blumberg to film a dog rescue mission video miniseries for The Dodo — a brand that shares animal-related stories and videos to its millions of social media followers — called Running Back to the Rescue.

Saving dogs from the streets kept him busy, but Oliveira said he found a high-quality gym in the Southeast Asian country that allowed him to prepare for the upcoming season.

“I want to play 10-plus years in this league, and 10-plus years for the Bombers. It’s important. I want to show my teammates that you can support me, you can trust me that I’m going to be available every single week for you guys,” said Oliveira, who didn’t miss a game last season.

It’s a different story in the secondary as defensive backs Jamal Parker and Winston Rose are expected to miss some time. Parker suffered an injury last weekend in the preseason finale and was wearing a walking boot on Monday. Rose missed both preseason games with an injury.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

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