Arland Bruce III: Someone else's problem
The Arland Bruce III saga is over in Toronto, as the Argos managed to ship the malcontent receiver to the rival Tiger Cats yesterday for two picks and the rights to defensive lineman Corey Mace. Not surprisingly, Bruce still didn’t take any responsibility for the fallout with head coach Bart Andrus upon the deal being completed, saying he doesn’t regret a thing he’s done and won’t change. Have fun with that, Hamilton.
Anyway, the Argos were willing to assume the risk of dealing Bruce to a division rival — a risk I’d say is certainly worth taking, since it’s surprising someone was willing to pick up Bruce’s contract (a reported $190,000 per year through 2011) in a trade when Toronto would’ve been forced to release him otherwise. If nothing else, this should make Labor Day in Hamilton (and the rematch in Toronto on September 11) all the more interesting.
Mace, whose rights the Argos picked up in the trade, is currently without a CFL contract and on the Buffalo Bills’ practice roster. General manager Adam Rita said yesterday he’s planning on talking to Mace’s agent soon about potentially signing a deal with Toronto.
In a way, I want Bruce to come back and torch the Argos. He was one of the better players on the team, and one of the guys with more personality, in a league starving for it.
Sure, he’s drama, but there’s no such thing as bad PR. (Unless you’re J.P. Ricciardi.)
By: eyebleaf on July 30, 2009
at 4:44 pm
Yeah, Andrus made it pretty clear the other day Bruce would’ve been accepted back if he dealt with the suspension properly, but I don’t think there was any going back on some of the things he said last week — eg. “he can go back to wherever he came from”…
Still, it’s a conflict of personalities that could really end up hurting the team if the other receivers don’t step up.
By: Jeremy on July 30, 2009
at 5:47 pm