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Bombers look to bring in Jasper Simmons, who's taken criticism from ex-teammates

Andrew Bucholtz
Montreal Alouettes' Tyrell Sutton (20) is tackled by Calgary Stampeders' Fred Bennett (L) and Jasper Simmons (bottom) during the second half of their CFL football game in Montreal, July 3, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi (REUTERS)

Only a day after being released by the Calgary Stampeders following a weekend of Twitter drama, linebacker Jasper Simmons appears to have found a new CFL landing spot in Winnipeg. Gary Lawless of TSN Radio 1290 and The Winnipeg Free Press broke the news Wednesday that the Bombers had agreed to terms with Simmons, who's expected to officially sign with them as soon as Thursday. Winnipeg's on a bye this week, but Lawless tweeted that Simmons is likely to be in the lineup for next Saturday's game, which just happens to be against the Stampeders:

The timing here is nice for the Bombers, as the bye gives them extra time to familiarize Simmons with their defensive schemes and see just what he can add to their lineup. He did have 80 tackles and three interceptions with Ottawa last year, and was named the Redblacks' top player, but he wasn't able to get on the field in Calgary; does that mean he wasn't performing well in practice, or just that the guys ahead of him were too good and/or too well-established? How well he does in Winnipeg may give us a partial answer. The forthcoming match with the Stampeders adds extra intrigue, too, as Simmons may be able to bring the Bombers' some insight on what Calgary does defensively.

It's interesting to see Winnipeg bringing in Simmons, as he's most known for his role as a middle linebacker, and they have expensive Canadian free-agent signing Sam Hurl starting there. Hurl hasn't impressed everyone, though, so there's some speculation that Simmons may be taking his place. The Bombers' defence overall hasn't been good, either, allowing a league-high 237 points through eight weeks, so some changes are to be expected.

Simmons certainly has potential, especially if the way he played in Ottawa is reflective of what he can do, but he is a bit of a risk; he didn't see the field much in his first two CFL seasons (2011 and 2012 with Toronto) or this year, so they're signing him based largely off one year of sample size, and that year of stats was recorded on a 2-16 team. Simmons definitely wasn't solely responsible for the Redblacks' struggles, and he played pretty well in Ottawa by all accounts (you don't get voted team MVP for doing nothing), but playing with such a bad team may have inflated his stats and the perception of him.

Signing Simmons also potentially carries locker-room concerns. What if he doesn't get the playing time he wants and starts to complain publicly, as he did in Calgary? Some of his former Stampeders' teammates certainly weren't afraid to criticize him Tuesday. As Scott Mitchell of The Calgary Sun writes, receiver Marquay McDaniel said locker-room issues might have developed if Simmons wasn't released:

“I think it would’ve always been an elephant in the room,” McDaniel said.

“After that happens, we’re a pretty close locker-room and we keep everything under the table.

“That’s why I love playing here.

“Coaches are going to be brutally honest with you and if you don’t like it, they’re going to be straight up with you and you’ve gotta respect it.

“He definitely put himself in a bad situation but, I guess, at that point, he didn’t care. I guess he figured if he did that he’d get released ... and he got released.”

Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell also told Mitchell Simmons' behaviour led to a needed release:

“Any other team looking at that says, ‘OK, if we pick you up and you don’t start, you’re just going to say the same thing,’” Mitchell said. It’ll be interesting to see what team takes him now.

“Jasper is a very good player, man, and, unfortunately, sometimes, his head gets in his way, I guess. He’s a guy that probably should be on the field — he is a good enough player to be on a field — but right now he wasn’t going to crack this lineup, not with those two guys (Simpson and Mayo) out there. And if you don’t understand that and don’t want to play for the best organization just because of that, then, I mean, yeah, you’ve gotta go somewhere else.”

Simmons has now found somewhere else to play, and he's done so quickly. This might well work out; he has lots of potential, he's young (he turns 26 on Thursday), and the Bombers clearly think they have a role for him. Maybe he'll fit in great as a starter for them and everyone will wind up happy. (They will have to juggle their ratio if they go from starting Hurl to starting an American like Simmons at MLB, but perhaps they already have a plan in mind.) There have been plenty of cases of players getting cut by one team and going on to shine with another one.

The highly-unusual way the Simmons situation ended in Calgary may not bode well, though. Perhaps they really were wrong to keep him as a backup, perhaps his complaints were really in response to the Stampeders being unfair, and perhaps he'll be a starter for years and years in Winnipeg and be happy with that. There's room for some skepticism given how he forced his way out of Calgary, though. We'll see how it plays out.