Bombers release Tom Canada
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/02/2009 (6266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Tom Canada’s days as a Winnipeg Blue Bomber are officially over as new head coach Mike Kelly continues to reshape the 2009 squad.
The team officially released Canada, as has been expected since they attempted to trade him last September, Friday afternoon. The move brings to an the five-year association between the popular defensive end and the Bombers, his only professional team.
“Yea bro they released me today at 4:01 central,” said Canada in an e-mail from Costa Rica, where he spends the winter. “Freaking weird but such is life. I was kind of expecting it, though, since I have a large bonus due in a couple weeks. Not sure what I’ll do now but I’ll let you know. But the surf is good.”
Canada first arrived in Winnipeg in 2004 and his zest for the life and for the game made him an instant fan favourite. And the fact that he had a knack for getting after the quarterback — his 41 career sacks places him fourth on the all-time list behind Tyrone Jones, Tony Norman and Gavin Walls — was a bonus. But the two-time divisional all-star saw his game regress last year after signing a lucrative deal just before last winter’s free agent deadline and he managed three sacks before his season ended in September when he was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen.
Prior to the discovery of that injury the club had attempted to trade Canada to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for Zeke Moreno, but the terms of that deal were adjusted when Canada first balked at the move and then his health became an issue.
His release is the third transaction of the week for the Bombers, who cut Matt Sheridan last Saturday and Stanford Samuels on Thursday.
