Redblacks release Brandon McDonald on his birthday, for swearing at an opponent

“We can’t have the lack of discipline continue when we have tried to correct it a number of times,” Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins said Wednesday during practice at the University of Ottawa. “He’s a good football player. It’s not an ability issue.”

McDonald had six stints with five National Football League teams before moving to the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders in July 2014. They released him less than two months later and he found his way to Ottawa.

In eight games this season, he was penalized four times for illegal contact on receivers and twice for pass interference, risks associated with being a CFL defensive back, and one penalty for an illegal block on a kick return.

Most disappointing were two fouls for unnecessary roughness and two for objectionable-conduct, including one for trying to kick a ball into the stands after a teammate’s interception during a July home game against the B.C. Lions.

Desjardins said the Redblacks tried Tuesday to trade McDonald, but received no offers.

“Am I naïve enough to think that he won’t be on another team in the short term?” Desjardins asked rhetorically. “No.”

Head coach Rick Campbell told remaining players about the release of McDonald before practice Wednesday, underlining management’s point that the decision was made in the best interests of the Redblacks long-term.

"I'm never going to be a guy who points the finger at somebody else. I'm going to look in the mirror first," said McDonald, who made eight tackles during the game. "I said some things I shouldn't have said. If I keep my mouth shut, don't say anything, we get off the field and they punt the ball. It wasn't like I wanted to kill the guy. He was talking, I was talking. This is what we do, this has been happening every week since training camp. The ref had complained multiple times, he was trying to tell us, 'Keep it down, keep it down.' I said something I shouldn't have said, it was a swear word, and it cost us."

“I love the RedBlacks. I wanted to be a RedBlack,” said McDonald over the phone Wednesday afternoon. “When I was coming in this morning, they stopped me at the door and told me (GM) Marcel (Desjardins) wanted to talk to me. He basically just said it was a tough decision, that I was a good player, but they were going to move on — that they couldn’t deal with the other stuff. I’m guessing that the other stuff meant the penalties. I’ve been through this before, it’s not my first time being released. I know how the business works; you’re as good as your last play. I can’t say I have any hard feelings. Do I agree with the decision? No. I wanted to help this team win football games.”