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Marwan Hage announces his retirement, which takes away a veteran leader from the Redblacks

When the Ottawa Redblacks selected veteran Hamilton centre Marwan Hage in December's expansion draft, it looked like a promising move—if they could get him to go there. On Monday, it became official (after a weekend of rumblings) that Hage won't be coming to Ottawa, as he announced his retirement from the CFL at a press conference in Hamilton. No one can blame Hage for choosing to hang up his cleats after a 10-year punishing professional football career, but his loss will be felt by the Redblacks, who are now going to have to find someone else who can handle the responsibilities of leading their offensive line.

Hage has been an important part of the league over the last decade, and he'll be missed both on and off the field. He spent his entire career with Hamilton until December, earning two divisional all-star nods and one league all-star nod, and he did plenty of impressive community work both in that city and others, helping distribute food and game tickets to those in need. His involvement with the CFL isn't coming to an end, either. Hage has been involved with the CFLPA as a player rep since 2007, and was recently re-elected as a CFLPA vice-president, a role he's held since 2010. He'll be an key figure in the ongoing CBA talks (further talks were held this weekend, with another round set for May). He's also planning to continue his Hage's Heroes efforts for food and toy drives, as well as bringing kids to Tiger-Cats' games.

It won't be easy for the Redblacks to replace Hage. While him coming to Ottawa was never a certainty, it certainly made the expansion team's hopes for this season appear much brighter. CFL centres are one of the most important parts of the offensive line, and veteran saavy/Canadian football experience can be crucial there in calling protections, developing good snapping technique and getting a line to gel together. The team does have another Canadian centre currently on the roster in Alex Krausnick-Groh, a fourth-round CFL draft pick in 2011 who's spent three years in the CFL with Saskatchewan and Edmonton before Ottawa snapped him up in the second round of the expansion draft, but he hasn't played all that much. Even with him, they'll probably need to get at least another backup, and they may need to look at trying to grab a starter. There aren't many proven ones out there, though; the only primary centre who was a pending free agent this year was Montreal's Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, and he signed an extension with the Alouettes in December. Thus, the Redblacks may need to turn to the draft. Most of the top Canadian linemen available project more as guards or tackles, though, so it's going to be interesting to see how they plan to fill the void Hage has left in their lineup.

As for Hage himself, while retiring at 32 may seem young to some, he made it clear this move wasn't about not wanting to go to Ottawa. As Drew Edwards writes, this was more about Hage wanting to spend time with his family and pursue his business interests (which include two Tim Hortons franchises he owns in Toronto):

RedBlacks GM Marcel Desjardins — who held the same role in Hamilton for two seasons — selected Hage in the third round of the expansion draft hoping he could provide veteran leadership and a sense of community to what's expected to be a young, inexperienced team. Hage won't be a RedBlack but says his decision wasn't about the football club.

"Ottawa wasn't really a factor — it's not that I don't want to play for them," Hage said. "I have a lot of respect for that organization and they've treated me right."

Still, Hage's focus Monday was on the team he played for for 10 years and the community he became a big part of. Here's video of his speech, via Edwards:

The CFL would be less interesting without Hage, so it's a good thing he's still going to be involved with the CFLPA and his charity work. His leadership and playing ability will definitely be missed by the Redblacks' line, though.