Veteran deserves better

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/06/2011 (5339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took the easy way out and fullback Jon Oosterhuis is paying the price.

The Bombers cut the nine-year veteran last week, saying he couldn’t pass his medical. Oosterhuis has a bad knee. He’s had it his entire pro career and it’s always passed the sniff test before. Medicals are a handy excuse for coaches and GMs when they decide a player no longer fits into their plans.

“That’s bulls

. That kid could come in here and pass a medical with flying colours,” said a league GM. “If you want to cut him — cut him. But don’t hang that on him. Now he’s got to deal with that when he tries to get a job with another club. They didn’t handle this very well.”

The Bombers re-signed Oosterhuis in February, prior to free agency. He worked out all winter with a number of Bombers including Buck Pierce. He’s in the best shape of his life and hasn’t had treatment on his knee in years.

But today the 33-year-old husband and father is out of a job. If there were concerns about his knee and his ability to perform, Oosterhuis should have been examined before he re-signed. Oosterhuis should have been given the opportunity to look elsewhere, but by re-signing him the Bombers led him to believe he had a job or at least the chance to earn one.

This isn’t a rookie who has never spilled blood for the Bombers. This is a guy who made this community his home year-round and did all the club asked of him.

Players and former teammates have been buzzing me all weekend to vent, saying the knee is not the issue.

Typically, Oosterhuis won’t say a word. Too good a teammate and a company man, even after getting his pink slip.

Cutting Oosterhuis isn’t the issue. The timing is the problem. Unloading a veteran just before training camp is bad form, especially after signing him to a new contract.

If a player isn’t in the plans, fine, clip him. But guys like Oosterhuis, deserve a little more consideration. Now he has to wait for someone to get hurt with another team and hope he gets a look. There’s no guarantee and there’s no paycheques coming in.

Bombers GM Joe Mack gets paid to make the hard calls and they’re not always going to be popular.

Mack said Monday the decision was made for the sake of the team and the player.

“Sometimes the player can’t walk away,” said Mack. “We have to act in the best interests of the team and the player. Jon had a degenerative knee issue. Our doctors were categorical. They were emphatic. We’d be going against best medical practice and putting the team and player at risk.”

Mack isn’t a liar. If he said the doctors were against Oosterhuis playing then it’s true. But when dealing with a veteran like Oosterhuis it’s not black and white. He’s played on a bad knee for a decade due to an injury in his college days. If he says he can play he should be given the chance.

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The Bombers signed Buck Pierce last off-season after the B.C. Lions determined his concussion history was too much of a risk. They needed Pierce so they took a gamble. Oosterhuis wasn’t so lucky.

Let me ask you this. If Pierce had failed his medical due to something in his shoulder or his knee, would the Bombers have released him? No chance.

Oosterhuis isn’t a game changer. He’s a fringe Canadian at best. Mack and head coach Paul LaPolice could easily make a case for cutting him outright.

But don’t lean on a medical report. Oosterhuis played with courage. He deserves the same in return.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca