Canadian Football League

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Former Canadian Football League player now rookie coach of Daytona Beach has player pass away after game

A player for a Daytona Beach indoor-football team died Monday evening after colliding with another player during a game at the Ocean Center.More than 1,440 spectators watched as Daytona Thunder defensive player Javan Camon, 25, tried to tackle a player carrying the ball for the visiting Columbus Lions. Another Lions player blocked Camon and they smashed against each other, head to head. The blow knocked Camon unconscious, said Daytona Beach Police Lt. Greg Grayson.
Paramedics and doctors at the arena tried to revive Camon on the field for 10 minutes before an ambulance took him to Halifax Regional Medical Center. He was pronounced dead on arrival, said EVAC ambulance spokesman Mark O'Keefe. Camon had gone into cardiac arrest.The other player was not transported, Grayson said.After Camon left the field, play resumed and the Lions defeated the Thunder 45-42, according to the team's Web site. (An earlier version of this article contained an incorrect score.)There was no bleeding or other outward signs of trauma, Grayson said."This is merely a play on the field. It's strictly an accidental death," Grayson said.The games' highlights are carried on a PBS station. (An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the whole games were broadcast.)"I haven't viewed the tape," Grayson said.Camon played at the University of South Florida, where he gained a reputation as a persistent player with determination.He was a backup to future NFL player J.R. Reed for three seasons but became a starter his senior year when teammates selected him as one of four captains."Any time you can go out and play as a great team, it's a special thing," Camon told reporter Greg Auman of The St. Petersburg Times in September 2004. "This game doesn't last forever, so we're going to go out and play our hearts out."Camon was the leading tackler at USF in 2004 with 101 total tackles.His death came two weeks into the rookie season for Thunder Coach Leon Bright, one of Brevard County's most famous athletes.Bright was a running back from Merritt Island High School who had two strong seasons at Florida State and became a Canadian League Hall of Famer for the British Columbia Lions.Later he played in the NFL for the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Bright could not be reached for comment.Just before midnight Monday, a handful of Thunder players stood outside Halifax Regional's emergency room, silent and somber. They would not comment.Thunder officials on their way to the emergency room said little as well."We want to be there to support the family," one team official said.Camon was no stranger to the perils of the sport. In 2004, he was involved in a crushing tackle in which a teammate knocked an opposing player unconscious."I didn't want to be as aggressive because now I knew how many bad things could happen from a good hit," he told reporter Eli Saslow of the Washington Post in October

Monday, February 26, 2007

Former Canadian Football League player receives lengthy prison sentence

A sweeping apology from a former Saskatchewan Roughriders football player who exposed two lovers to HIV wasn't enough to save him from a lengthy prison sentence.
Judge Ken Bellerose of Saskatchewan provincial court in Regina sentenced Trevis Smith to 5½ years in prison on Monday after having previously convicted him for aggravated sexual assault.
"As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Smith was very deceitful and very dishonest,'' he said.
"I'm satisfied he displayed, throughout this whole time -- from when he learned he had HIV in November of 2003 until the time of his arrest in October 2005 -- a very indifferent attitude with respect to the expectations that the law required on his part to basically come clean with respect to his sexual partners.''
Before Bellerose passed sentence, Smith had his say.
"For this, I apologize to this province and to the team that I represented the last seven years,'' he said from the prisoner's box.
"I also want to apologize to the women that I've been involved with during this time and my wife for just my actions and I ask that she'd forgive me for me committing adultery.
"I just want to say sorry for everything.''
Smith's wife Tamika cried during the apology. Smith himself showed no emotion.
Neither the wife nor Clemente Monterosso, Smith's lawyer, would comment. An appeal of the conviction has already been filed.
Monterosso had said that his client should receive a reduced sentence because the police revealed Smith's HIV status upon his arrest.
Bail violations
Bellerose also sentenced Smith to an additional six months in prison for various bail violations related to the case.
Before the sentencing hearing began Monday, the former CFL player pleaded guilty to two bail violations. In one case, Crown counsel told the provincial court judge that Smith "made out" with a woman after he had been released on bail on the condition he not be alone with females over 14.
In the other incident, Burge said Smith told his bail supervisor that he was going to be working, while he was actually arranging to meet up with one of his girlfriends.
Crown prosecutor Bill Burge asked the judge to give Smith a 10-year sentence.
"This goes beyond recklessness," he said. "It's the deliberation that really aggravates this."
The case was "among the worst of the worst," Burge said. He also argued that Smith has showed no remorse for his actions.
"Mr. Smith will continue to put females at risk as long as he has the opportunity," Burge said.
At Smith's trial, Bellerose heard from a Regina woman and another woman from B.C., who said he had unprotected sex with them and denied having the virus that causes AIDS.
Smith testified that he didn't have sex with the Regina woman after he found out about his condition and that he told the woman from B.C. about his infection and then always used a condom.


<