Photo courtesy: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions
Mathieu Betts wasn’t surprised that Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander took issue with a tackle he made late in the second quarter of B.C.’s Week 15 win over Montreal.
“I understand. It was ruled on the field as roughing on the quarterback; I’m not sure of the terminology. It was a horse collar. I get it,” the Lions’ defensive end told the media this week, speaking for the first time since the incident.
“It was reviewed as a roughing on the quarterback, and I understand that my hand was on his nameplate. I was honestly trying to make a play for the ball, and not sure if it was a strip fumble or an incomplete pass or anything like that, but it was called a horse collar at the end of the day, and I was penalized. That’s what I’ll say about that.”
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Alexander took greater issue with how the tackle finished, as Betts appeared to bend his arm awkwardly and maintain his grip long after the two had gone to the ground. After the game, the star pivot described the play as “horsesh*t” to 3DownNation, while Alouettes’ head coach Jason Maas said it was “not right” and suggested that such “extracurricular” plays had no place in football.
Betts acknowledged that there may have been some gamesmanship on his part, but does not believe he crossed the line.
“You do want to play hard as much as possible, and you never want to put anybody in a compromising situation or position. But at the end of the day, it is a contact sport,” he said. “From my perspective, it’s a football play where, if the ball is loose and you’re going and you have a chance to go for the ball, it sucks, but as a player, you kind of have to do it on defence. If you have an opportunity to create a turnover, you take it, and that’s all I was trying to do at that point in the game.”
Tensions were already high between Betts and Alexander stemming from a trash-talking incident the week prior, and the Canadian pass rusher appeared to get an earful after the tackle. Alexander repeatedly attempted to get in the defender’s face while the play was reviewed, and the two teams had to be separated.
Defensive back Ronald Kent Jr. later described the QB’s words towards Betts as a “lot of mother-effers,” but the 31-year-old claimed that he can’t recall what was said in the heat of battle.
“It was pretty much one-sided, I’ll say that. It’s hard for me to comment, just because I’m not really sure what he was trying to say or not to say,” Betts said. “It was definitely nothing very out of the box. It was nothing that I’ll remember. I’m not sure I’ll be able to say that it was something that was actually flagrant that I’ll be able to remember or quote. Just can’t remember much about what he was saying.”
Betts was eventually ejected from the game late in the fourth quarter following an interaction with offensive lineman Cyrille Hogan-Saindon, which earned him a second misconduct penalty. However, neither incident was serious enough to warrant supplemental discipline from the CFL. That was not the case for Alexander, who was fined for his role in a sideline brawl in the third quarter.
That altercation, which resulted in suspensions for Kent Jr. and Montreal defensive back Don Callis, and later revelations regarding punches thrown by B.C. defensive back Josh Hagerty, which seriously injured Montreal running back Liam Talbot and led to a two-game suspension, have largely overshadowed Alexander’s ongoing feud with Betts.
However, as one of the Lions’ veteran leaders, the two-time Most Outstanding Defensive Player has still had to deal with plenty of fallout this week.
“It’s hard. We do care about (Hagerty) a lot, and I think he understands that the whole thing that’s going on is regrettable on that point. Our prayers are mainly for the Montreal player who got hurt, but we still want to support him,” he said.
“He’s been somebody who’s been working hard to get where he is at right now, and he is regretful for what happened, and I think as a team, it’s important that he knows that we’re not just letting him down or forgetting about him because he understands what happened and he’s regretful for it.”
A bye week has given the Lions a chance to cool off after their chippy clash with the Alouettes, and Betts knows that discipline will need to be at the forefront against Saskatchewan this week — especially with the team short-handed.
“We always put it as the utmost important thing, just because football-wise, that’s how you win or lose games,” he said. “For us, when we talk about discipline, it’s in your assignments and also taking penalties. You don’t want to give away free yards. If we want to go where we want to go at the end of the year, that’s something that’s going to be really, really important in all matters, in all phases.”
The B.C. Lions (7-6) will host the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-5) on Friday, September 25, with kickoff scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EDT. Both teams were on bye this past week.
The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on 620 CKRM in Regina or 730 CKNW (English) or Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 (Punjabi) in Vancouver.
J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.
