MTL Gazette - Dwight Anderson told to stay away from Als

[XGamer]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/D ... story.html

Dwight Anderson told to stay away from Alouettes

BY HERB ZURKOWSKY, THE GAZETTE NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Need trumps trouble. Always has, always will. That's why there always will be a place in professional football for players like Dwight Anderson and Terrell Owens.

The Alouettes had a need last winter in their secondary, and cornerback Anderson was the marquee player available in free agency. And so, on the opening day of the bidding process, the Als wasted little time signing him, outbidding Calgary, where Anderson had spent three seasons. Both offers were competitive and similar, but Montreal offered more money upfront, signing Anderson for an annual salary of about $120,000.

The Als knew what they were getting, a free-spirited, often controversial player. And there were concerns about how Anderson would co-exist with Marc Trestman, Montreal's conservative head coach who always has preached a team-first concept.

Predictably, there were incidents. Anderson poked Weston Dressler in the eye during a game against Saskatchewan, and was accused of spitting at fans - the investigation eventually was dropped - at Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium. Anderson took too many pass-interference penalties and, during a home game against Toronto on Oct. 10, reportedly got into a sideline shouting match with injured defensive-back Jerald Brown, forcing general manager Jim Popp to intervene.

Coincidentally, five days later, Anderson was placed on the nine-game injured list with a torn quad, ending his season. The injury's legitimate. Anderson has been sidelined since a game against the Tiger-Cats on Sept. 11. But there appears to be more to this story, and it will be very surprising if he returns to the Als next season.

Numerous sources have told The Gazette this goes beyond Anderson's injury and that issues developed between him and Trestman. It's also known inside various teams' dressing rooms throughout the Canadian Football League, social media being so prevalent, that Anderson has been ordered to stay away from the Als' dressing room and practice facility. It appears he's not even allowed to attend the team's games. While Anderson's wife was at Molson Stadium on Sunday, when the Als hosted Calgary, Anderson, who remains in the city, was at home, babysitting.

While it's common club policy to keep players with long-term injuries away from the team - Étienne Boulay and Mark Estelle are among those conspicuous by their absence - Anderson apparently crossed a line with his head coach.

"The coach doesn't want him around," a source told The Gazette. "Put it this way, Marc Trestman doesn't want him in the building, at games or at practices. The players have to tell Trestman if he comes in. There's a lot more to this than just an injury."

According to another source, Anderson refused to pay a team fine. That led to a confrontation with Trestman in the dressing room, with the team present.

All parties concerned have denied any chasm exists.

"He has a quad injury, and we're standing by that," Trestman said. "It was a football decision, based on an injury. From my standpoint, everything we've done has been in the best interest of the player."

While there were issues and incidents that are common knowledge, Trestman denied anything disrupted the team's focus. He also denied Anderson was tough to deal with. But when asked whether Anderson has been kicked off the team, Trestman's response was cryptic. "This is where we're at."

Similarly, Anderson said there's nothing more involved than an injury. "If there was a problem," he said, "I'd let you know."

Popp said he has never regretted signing Anderson, but stopped short of confirming the player would remain with the team next season.

"The only thing I'll say is, if someone's trying to make something out of this, when players are injured, frustration builds up. They all want to play. After sitting with him and discussing the measures we were taking, everything is fine."

Trestman is hardly the first coach to have problems with Anderson. Calgary general manager and head coach John Hufnagel had repeated closed-door discussions with him during his three years there, constantly forced to rein him in.

"It's not easy to coach D.A.," Stamps defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones admitted. "But we won a bunch with him at wide-field corner," Jones quickly added.

It's quite apparent the Als could use Anderson in their secondary, depleted following injuries. Sunday alone, inexperienced quarterback Drew Tate passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns - both to Canadian receiver Johnny Forzani. Forzani has been average this season, but against Montreal, he led his team with six receptions for 108 yards.

"If D.A. was healthy, he'd be on the field," another source said.

Anderson isn't the only player who has fallen into disfavour with Trestman.

A source said Boulay, recovering from a concussion, has been told he must tread carefully. He reported to training camp in poor shape, perhaps the result of appearing on TVA reality show Le Défi des Champions. He also appeared on various Frenchlanguage talk shows.

Boulay said he was "uneasy about doing interviews as I don't want to take any attention off the guys and the big games coming up."

A source also indicated returnspecialist Larry Taylor's release last season, upon his return from the New York Jets, stemmed from attitude problems Trestman quickly grew weary of.

Players Kerry Watkins and Josh Bourke sustained season-ending injuries on Sunday, the Alouettes said yesterday. Get the details at alsinsideout.com

hzurkowsky@montrealgazette.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

[cliffyd]

I like him personally...but if he really is gonna act up and be detrimental to the team, then cut him loose. Or better yet, make him the running back. Then Trestman will really have no interaction with him

[ro1313]

Ya gotta remember this was written by Herb
Herb wrote on a Monday that the Als were going to finish the season with Floyd, then wrote on Tuesday that Floyd was cut

[LeStaf]

C'est en gros ce qu'on disait tous au début de la saison. Si Anderson est capable de se mouler à la mentalité de l'équipe, il demeurera avec l'équipe. S'il ne peut y parvenir, il partira.

Il y a un peu de vrai dans la critique faite à l'égard du jeu d'Anderson. Et curieusement, la tertiaire amochée a mieux fait sans lui qu'avec lui.

J'étais très enthousiaste lorsqu'on nous a annoncé sa venue. Maintenant, je demeure content qu'il fasse partie de l'équipe, mais il doit vraiment se mouler à cette équipe.

[Trestman@Godsright]

Je n'ai jamais aimé Anderson, ni avec les cats, ni avec les stamps et encore moins avec les Al's... a son premier match avec nous il fait le ''dirty bird'' popularisé par Parker en 2010 personne n'est allé le voir et quand Woldu a voulu le faire avec lui il s'est fait tiré par les Épaulettes par Estelle ça en dit long sur comment le gars était apprécié...

Un autre qui semble tomber dans la défaveur c'est Boulay il est bon mais son attitude Superstar TVA me tape sur le système...A-T-il eu la grosse tête quand il s'est fait donner le poste de Proulx? Boulay pourtant un bon petit gars de chez nous semble aimer pas mal plus les kodak que le football... dommage parce que Hecht semble lui avoir ravi son poste pour de bon.

[LeStaf]

Je n'ai jamais aimé Anderson, ni avec les cats, ni avec les stamps et encore moins avec les Al's... a son premier match avec nous il fait le ''dirty bird'' popularisé par Parker en 2010 personne n'est allé le voir et quand Woldu a voulu le faire avec lui il s'est fait tiré par les Épaulettes par Estelle ça en dit long sur comment le gars était apprécié...

Un autre qui semble tomber dans la défaveur c'est Boulay il est bon mais son attitude Superstar TVA me tape sur le système...A-T-il eu la grosse tête quand il s'est fait donner le poste de Proulx? Boulay pourtant un bon petit gars de chez nous semble aimer pas mal plus les kodak que le football... dommage parce que Hecht semble lui avoir ravi son poste pour de bon.

C'est un point de vue qui se défend, mais je ne suis pas encore prêt à dire que Hecht a pris le poste au lieu de Boulay. Cette saison, sans doute puisque Boulay est médicalement hors circuit. L'an prochain sera une autre saison et il y aura de la compétition au camp d'entraînement. Boulay a des qualités qu'on cherche encore en Hecht. Boulay n'aura plus ces apparitions TV et pourra se concentrer sur le camp à venir.

On ne doit pas reprocher à Boulay ses apparaitions médiatiques. Pour le peu d'attention que les média francophones portent aux Alouettes, lorsqu'un joueur comme Boulay peut faire parler d'eux, ils en profitent pleinement et ils en ont bien de besoin.

[section k1 M.october]

les alouettes peuve bien dire se qu'il veule sur Boulay puisqu’il a été blessé a la première partie s’il avait joué toute la saison le discours aurait été bien différent et Boulay n’est pas la pour se défendre et justifie son entrainement et il n’est pas un idiot Boulay il est en bonne condition pour son camp les alouettes son des jaloux de toute l'attention qui a l'extérieur et le succès qui a sans eux

De toute façon il son jaloux , Boulay va prendre les meilleures décisions pour ta carrière et si tu as toujours le gou de joué pour les alouettes et que tu es heureux je vais être heureux et si je te vois dans les médias comme RDS et que tu es heureux je vais l'être heureux .

[XGamer]

Phil,

je crois pas que c'est 1 question de jalousie, c'est 1 question d'économie.....

Quand tu le payes au pris 1 partant (pres de 100 000$), tu t'attends a ce que le gars arrive en shape au camp, il l'était pas....j'ai toujours pas compris pourquoi quelques mois avant le camp il a fait le defi des champion a TVA et aurait pu risquer 1 blessure qui aurait compromis sa saison...

(Phil, si toi dans ta job tu aurait fais la meme chose, comment ton employeur aurait reagis ?)

Je vais etre honnete avec la retraite de Proulx, je me disais que Boulay allait devenir la nouvelle face francophone des Als, mais ca pas été le cas...

J'adore le gars, j'ai son Game worn de 2007, si Etienne revient au football, je vais continuez a l'encourager, s'il quitte pour faire autre chose, et bien je vais lui souhaitez Bonne chance dans ses nouvelles aventures...