Taj Smith’s suspension about more than bar visit

A CFL player walks into a bar and gets suspended. It's not just a terrible joke; it's what allegedly happened with Saskatchewan Roughriders' wide receiver Taj Smith Sunday. However, there's much more to it than that, and that's why the team's decision to bench Smith this week against Winnipeg makes sense. In fact, they've already taken criticism from some quarters for being too lenient.

The problem isn't just that Smith went to a bar in Ottawa; it's that doing so violated a condition of his release (he's still facing an aggravated assault charge from a brawl outside a Regina nightclub last August; charges were withdrawn and stayed respectively against Dwight Anderson and Eron Riley, the two other Riders involved, but the Crown still intends to prosecute Smith). That landed Smith in court in Gatineau, Quebec Tuesday, where he had to post further bail and received additional release conditions. Moreover, Saskatchewan general manager Brendan Taman told The Regina Leader-Post that Smith also missed team meetings Monday with no explanation:

Although Smith has been one of the Riders' top receivers, it certainly makes sense to bench him for at least a week given this. The violation of the conditions of his release is a serious matter, and it means he'll have to be back in Gatineau for another court date Oct. 6. Missing a day of team meetings with no explanation is also problematic, and the two combined suggest there are a lot of issues with Smith's behaviour at the moment. That's why it's not that surprising that Taman told the Canadian Press Smith may have played his last game in green-and-white:

However, there are some who think Taman and the Riders should have punished Smith long before this. He, Anderson and Riley received no reported punishment from the team when the charges of aggravated assault were first laid against them, and all three continued to play down the stretch in 2013. While there's some context to those charges (former Rider Tamon George talked about how people have been trying to fight members of the team, and Anderson's comments after his release suggested they got jumped; Smith's background of seeing his friend shot and losing two brothers and a brother in law to violence is notable too), they're still very serious, and the security camera footage that appeared to show a Rider potentially headstomping someone certainly didn't look good for the team. Some CFL organizations would have handed down suspensions to the players involved right then and there; the B.C. Lions' recent decision to fine and scratch Jabar Westerman over a charge of common assault comes to mind.

Each CFL team largely handles its own off-field discipline, though, and that's probably a good thing. The NFL's plan of running all off-field discipline through commissioner Roger Goodell only sets them up for a lot of criticism, especially when that discipline appears inconsistent. CFL off-field discipline can still be inconsistent, but that can be put down to teams' different policies, and the teams are more immediately impacted by public response; if a player's actions are bad enough and the team's response isn't severe enough, they'll hear from their fans.

There's certainly a case that the Riders should have punished Smith before this; some others might make a case that the team shouldn't have suspended him this week, as that's likely to hurt them on the field. From this corner, the team's doing the right thing now, and it would be somewhat surprising to see Smith back in Rider colours unless he really straightens out. This is a league of second chances, though, so it's certainly possible he could wear green and white again. In any event, it definitely makes sense for the team to bench him this week. Sometimes, a CFL player walking into a bar is much more than a bad joke.