{"id":677344,"date":"2026-05-18T11:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677344\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T11:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:18:24","slug":"people-have-to-pay-alouettes-journeyman-micah-awe-caught-off-guard-by-b-c-lions-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677344\/","title":{"rendered":"‘People have to pay’: Alouettes journeyman Micah Awe caught off guard by B.C. Lions release"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto courtesy: Montreal Alouettes<\/p>\n

Another year, another new uniform. That\u2019s the way it\u2019s been for the majority of Micah Awe\u2019s career, but the veteran linebacker wasn\u2019t expecting to continue the trend in 2026.<\/p>\n

After leading the CFL in defensive tackles last season, the 32-year-old believed he had entrenched himself at the centre of the B.C. Lions\u2019 defence. The team, it turned out, had other plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you, it was a complete surprise. It was a complete 180. I thought I was gonna be back in B.C.,\u201d Awe revealed<\/a>, speaking for the first time about his January release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you guys look at my Wikipedia, every time people ask me, \u2018How many teams have you been on?\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018Do you really want to know? Do you have five minutes?\u2019 At the end of the day, when it happened to me, I\u2019m like, \u2018Why am I surprised?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Awe amassed a league-leading 114 defensive tackles in 2025, while adding three special teams tackles, one forced fumble, and two interceptions. Still, it wasn\u2019t enough to make his fourth stint in B.C. permanent, as the Lions picked up three-time all-star Darnell Sankey on the free agent market to become their new middle linebacker. That made the incumbent expendable<\/a>, and he was released several weeks later.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an all-too-familiar narrative for Awe. No matter how statistically productive he\u2019s been, teams have always chosen to move on. In addition to his stops in B.C. (2017, 2018, 2022, 2025), he has also spent time with the Toronto Argonauts (2019), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2020), Ottawa Redblacks (2021), Montreal Alouettes (2022), and Calgary Stampeders (2023-2024). Never has he been able to stay in one place for more than two seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor whatever reason, personnel, GMs, coaches, they see me as a guy that they can use whenever they want to use,\u201d Awe shrugged. \u201cAnd if that\u2019s my role, that\u2019s my role. But whenever I do my role, I\u2019m going to be the best at it. Regardless, I\u2019m here in Montreal, and people have to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Awe joined the Alouettes in April<\/a> after two-and-a-half months of free agency, making his way from Vancouver to Montreal for the second time in his career. He believes it to be a perfect fit both on and off the field, likening his own diverse background to the city\u2019s reputation as a cultural melting pot.<\/p>\n

The five-foot-11, 216-pound defender also made clear that he has unfinished business stemming from his first tenure with the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s always been close to my heart. The last game I played for Montreal was the 2022 Eastern Final that we lost,\u201d Awe said. \u201cI actually didn\u2019t play, but I cried, and I still remember that feeling. It\u2019s one of those things that I\u2019ve always wanted to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Alouettes have enjoyed considerable team success since then, winning the Grey Cup in 2023 and reaching the title game again last season, only to fall short. Awe has watched those accomplishments with both jealousy and admiration, determined to become a part of it himself.<\/p>\n

What remains unclear is what role he\u2019ll play in Montreal, as it was a ratio change at middle linebacker<\/a> that prompted the Alouettes to release their incumbent standout Sankey<\/a> early this offseason, setting the wheels in motion for Awe\u2019s own release by the Lions. Canadian Geoffrey Cantin-Arku is being handed the keys, but Awe still sees a path to playing time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna find a way to get on the field. That\u2019s always my job,\u201d he vowed. \u201cIt\u2019s up to personnel, GM Danny (Maciocia), to choose, and it\u2019s my part to make it hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Awe noted that a number of players from his rookie class, like William Stanback<\/a> and DaVaris Daniels<\/a>, chose to retire this offseason, but he still feels at the top of his game \u2014 even if it hasn\u2019t always been recognized by GMs or media members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about the age; everyone says that. It\u2019s about the film,\u201d he insisted. \u201cYou go put the film on, and my biggest thing I got last year that really confirmed it is a CFLPA all-star. That\u2019s your own opponents, your own peer group, saying this was the best Mike linebacker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I don\u2019t care about any stats, because it doesn\u2019t even matter. They won\u2019t even give it to me. I don\u2019t care. It\u2019s about getting back to that Grey Cup and not just getting there, it\u2019s about winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Montreal Alouettes opened training camp on Sunday, May 10. The team plays its two preseason games against the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday, May 22, and Friday, May 29. Final roster cuts are due on Saturday, May 30, after which the team will play its first regular-season game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday, June 4.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Montreal Alouettes Another year, another new uniform. That\u2019s the way it\u2019s been for the majority of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,50470,3179,26121,49,48,7028,521,522,520,116859,527,2002,169042,6381,114897,2338,82],"class_list":["post-677344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-alouettes","tag-als","tag-b-c","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-darnell-sankey","tag-football","tag-league","tag-leos","tag-lions","tag-micah-awe","tag-montreal","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677344","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=677344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}