The Montreal Alouettes fired Sean Oakman two weeks ago for violating what general manager Danny Maciosia called their “core values,” but head coach Jason Maas appears to be thinking just as much about the defensive lineman because of the allegations against him.
“He has his problems. We have ours and we're going to stay strong with each other,” Maas said in Winnipeg on Tuesday. “It doesn't change how we feel about him or what he's done for us in our building, but we have to move on, we have to do what we do and that's it. Right now it's all about focusing on the Montreal Alouettes.”
Oakman was suspended indefinitely by the Canadian Football League on October 31 after a third-party investigation found that he had violated their gender-based violence and harassment policies. According to CFL, the 33-year-old man allegedly threatened to send sexually explicit material to the minor child of his intimate partner.
The Alouettes released the 33-year-old later that day, with Maciocia saying the team holds its employees to “the highest standards of integrity and respect both on and off the field.”
“I think as a person, knowing Sean, knowing the person who played for us and all that stuff, I feel for him. But the choice and what's done is done,” Maas said of the situation. “I don't know all the details and I don't know how it's all going to turn out in the end. I know he's no longer with us, I know he's not playing in the CFL right now, so what's done is done.”
Oakman was signed by the Alouettes as a free agent in February and played in 17 regular-season games, recording 34 defensive tackles and five sacks. Two days before his suspension was announced, he was selected to the All-CFL East Division squad.
The Alouettes decided to cut ties with the six-foot-eight, 280-pound defenseman ahead of their Eastern semi-final matchup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, leaving the team in a difficult situation due to pre-existing injuries along the defensive line. Maas said the player leadership group was not consulted in making the decision, insisting their primary goal was to win the playoff game.
“They had no say, I'll say that first. It was right before our game, so when I walked into the locker room the day we played, it was 'competition, focus and discipline,' and the main part was 'let's focus on us right now,'” Maas said. “Talking to Sean, he wanted us to focus on ourselves and the game ahead, and he needed to focus on what he needed to do.”
“The fact is that we repeated the same phrase – we can't do anything about it. It's in other hands.”
Over 76 games during his CFL career, Oakman recorded 156 defensive tackles, 27 sacks, five forced fumbles, one interception and one special teams tackle. He won a Gray Cup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and was a three-time East Division All-Star, earning one All-CFL honor.
Native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. was the target of several off-field incidents before arriving in the CFL.
In 2012, he was kicked off the Penn State University football team for violating team rules after he was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and shoplifting for pushing a female cashier in the cafeteria. Six months later, he was named in a domestic violence complaint in Waco, Texas, although charges were never filed. Oakman was also accused of sexually assaulting a Baylor University student in 2016 in a case that went to trial. Oakman was found not guilty in February 2019..
According to the CFL's Gender-Based Violence and Harassment Policy, those with a history of violations are generally subject to more severe penalties because, according to the league, “such behavior often indicates a propensity for violence and a higher risk of future violence.” In its decision to suspend Oakman, the league reiterated that it does not tolerate violence or harassment, both public and private.
The Alouettes entered the 112th Gray Cup without Oakman in the lineup. Maas hopes that now both player and team can turn the page.
“The one thing I would always say is that you have to live and grow no matter what, in any situation,” he said. “We're going to have to deal with what we're dealing with. He's going to have to deal with what he's dealing with. They're two different things right now. That's all I can really say about it.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Gray Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16, with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 pm EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern final by a score of 19-16.Bye The Roughriders came back to defeat the BC Lions in the Western final, 24-21.. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, although Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games with a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast for Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees, sun and clouds. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the US and CFL+ worldwide.
This is the fifth time the Gray Cup will be held in Winnipeg and the second time it will be held at Princess Auto Stadium. The stadium's first Gray Cup was held in 2015, when the Edmonton football team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 26–20 and Michael Reilly was named the game's MVP.
