Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography

Kenny Lawler will face off against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the first time in black and gold on Friday, and it does not appear he left the team on good terms this offseason.

In an exclusive interview with Taylor Allen of the Winnipeg Free Press, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ star receiver pulled no punches when asked if he felt disrespected by the Bombers’ treatment of him in free agency.

“Y’all signed Dillon Mitchell before me,” Lawler told the newspaper. “Who wouldn’t (feel disrespected)?”

Hamilton made Lawler the highest-paid non-quarterback in the CFL this offseason, inking him to a deal worth up to $303,000 this year and $317,000 in 2026. The deal brought an end to his second stint with the Bombers, though it does not appear the organization did much to prevent it.

According to the receiver, he did not even receive an offer to stay in Winnipeg until the day before free agency opened. He also stated that his agent was only contacted by the team twice in advance of that offer, both brief conversations to gauge the market rather than actual negotiations.

“I didn’t know that I was going to be leaving Winnipeg,” Lawler said. “I always thought there would be light at the end of the tunnel at the end of free agency that we’d get something done but nothing got done and nothing ever got figured out.”

The Bombers instead chose to invest their cap space in fellow all-star Dalton Schoen, who recently tore his ACL for the second time in two years. They also attempted to pre-emptively replace Lawler’s production with players like the aforementioned Mitchell, who has caught 11 passes for 85 yards in five games this season after signing a deal worth $148,000 in hard money.

By contrast, Lawler has been explosively productive for the Ticats, catching 59 passes for 1,047 yards and 10 touchdowns in 12 games. He raves about the environment and the support he’s received in Hamilton, highlighting another issue he had with his departure from Winnipeg.

The Pomona, Calif., native alleges that the Bombers stood in the way of his personal side business running football camps for youth in the area. After taking a pay cut to stay in Winnipeg after a negative experience abroad in 2022, he says he was merely trying to supplement his income and establish something that would ease his transition to life after football.

“It’s not that (the Bombers) didn’t want me to do it — they wanted me to do it under them. They closed my work permit,” Lawler stated.

The 31-year-old was vague about who was responsible for that barrier, saying only that it was a person unlikely to agree to an interview. As he prepares for what some might categorize as a revenge game, he made clear that his issues aren’t with the players on the field or Mike O’Shea’s staff on the sidelines.

“It’s got nothing to do with the guys that I was going to war with, it’s got nothing to do with the coaches. It’s just more so I look at life like how I look at football when I’m analyzing film. You gotta learn from it. That’s all I look at,” Lawler said.

“Why was I so naive to think someone was going to help me with something other than football? That’s how they really felt, like certain people all they really cared about is, ‘Kenny, as long as you’re good at football, we’re good. We don’t care about what you want to do elsewhere.’ There’s totally 100 per cent genuine people here (in Hamilton).”

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-5) will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-6) on Friday, September 12 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will honour current Ticats’ general manager and former Winnipeg assistant general manager Ted Goveia, whom Lawler most credits for his free agency decision, as he continues his battle with cancer.

The weather forecast in Hamilton calls for a high of 21 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud and a 20 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 680 CJOB in Winnipeg and the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton.