Lemon spoke to Justin Dunk on the Rider\u00a0Broadcast Network<\/a>\u00a0and started\u00a0by expressing his gratitude for being able to return.<\/p>\n\u201cFirst and foremost, I’m thankful to have an opportunity to be back playing, doing what I love to do, and that’s play football,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cI’m definitely thankful to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n
A major part of Lemon\u2019s reinstatement is his compliance with conditions imposed by the CFL, part of which is completing all mandatory league education, including the CFL\u00a0match manipulation policy, and continuing to participate in his ongoing counselling sessions. Lemon has done his due diligence in that regard, and has taken ownership of the situation he put himself in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe accountable, remorseful, genuine and understanding that I made a mistake,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cTake full responsibility for my actions and be honest and upfront about it and understand that it was a mistake and it was a lapse of judgment. I’m\u00a0thankful\u00a0[Johnston] sat down and we met and we got to talk about things. He got to know me better and I got to know him as well and I definitely appreciate the support from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there was no question Lemon was going to be sidelined for a lengthy amount of time when the suspension came down, plenty of work went on in the background to see to it that he would return to the field at some point. Agent Fred Weinrauch rallied for his player, and Lemon also had the support of the CFLPA as well as his Montreal coaches and teammates throughout the suspension and especially as the time for his return drew closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve been there for me throughout this process,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cI’m nothing but thankful to have good people around as far as in the working environment, as well as my family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Lemon had served his gambling suspension, he still had to sit out two more games after July 17\u00a0thanks to violating the CFL drug policy. Lemon said he was prescribed a\u00a0weight-loss drug phentermine by a doctor, with the medication on the CFL banned list because of its stimulant properties. That, too, was a learning experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn’t anything I was doing on my end, but I take full responsibility for it,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cBeing a professional athlete, you gotta know the details of these things. It’s a lesson learned going forward. Even if you’re prescribed a medication, go about things the right way with TUE [Therapeutic Exemption Use] forms and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he was unable to practice or work with a CFL team in his time away from the game, Lemon still made sure to keep busy. That included working out, attending counselling and a bit of extra time with man\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0trained every day, I spent time with my dog, I\u00a0worked on myself,\u201d Lemon\u00a0said. \u201cI took some counselling to work on myself as a man, so I can be ready from a mental aspect and a physical aspect as well. So it’s\u00a0training every day and family time and\u00a0trying to better myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s a silver lining to Lemon\u2019s time away from the game, it was a full year off from professional football\u2019s wear-and-tear on his now 36-year-old body. A chance to let lingering injuries repair, become physically stronger and get ready for the opportunity should it come.<\/p>\n
That has Lemon hoping the\u00a0Alouettes will get an improved and even more dangerous version of himself now that they\u2019ve taken the chance to bring him back into the fold — something else he\u2019s more than appreciative of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never wanted to feel like I was entitled to an opportunity to rejoin the league,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cIt’s all up to the team’s discretion on whether or not they wanted me to join their club and if they thought that I would be an asset to the club. I’m\u00a0thankful for the people of Montreal, the city of Montreal, the coaching staff, my teammates for welcoming me back with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n
With everything behind him, Lemon is more than happy to use himself as a cautionary tale for young players coming up in\u00a0the league to\u00a0avoid\u00a0situations that got him into trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cUse my lessons that I’ve learned throughout my career to help the younger guys growing up, coming up in the league, to do things the right way,\u201d Lemon, a three-time CFL all-star, said. \u201cThere’s not an experience in this league I would say that I haven’t experienced as a player and I would be foolish not to give that knowledge to my teammates and peers around the league. That’s what I’ve always done, I try to be a positive role model, not only in my locker room but to help out other peers as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through it all, the biggest thing was getting back on the field and playing the game. Saturday was that night, and Lemon was naturally incredibly excited to take his spot on the defensive line once again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing I’m looking forward to is seeing the fans and being back inside of our stadium.\u00a0Looking at it on TV, you can feel the atmosphere from there,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cSo definitely excited to get that stadium feel back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a year-and-a-half away from the game, 14-year veteran nothing but appreciative to be back on the gridiron…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-44545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}