The Canadian Football League and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats made a terrible mistake and last night tried to undo that mistake.
The Tiger-Cats announced the hiring of Art Briles – the man who led the Baylor University football team at the time of one of the biggest scandals in NCAA football history. He was found to have swept under the rug dozens of allegations of rape. He lost his job, as he should have, and that should have been his last job.
Why the Tiger-Cats, in the middle of an 0-8 embarrassment, thought this was a good idea is mind-boggling. The heat came from fans, media and sponsors.
Then less than 12 hours after the original announcement, they turned course and, along with the CFL, said Briles will not be coming to Canada. Good.
But let’s not give Hamilton or the league too much credit for the about-face. The owner and the league were brought up to speed that they were interested in Briles and he still got hired.
So, you get the credit. The fans, the sponsors, who spoke out and did so loudly and clearly, you helped undo the wrong.