MONTREAL – Sean Thomas Erlington already had a touchdown taken away from him on a blocked kick, and the coaches had to reluctantly remove him from the offensive plan against the Calgary Stampeders.
After this controversial decision from the CFL command center, we could only have a thought for Thomas Erlington. The 32-year-old athlete is struggling for his new team and he would have deserved this touchdown that would have helped the Alouettes make up for their bad start in Calgary.
Specifically, the CFL explained to the Alouettes that the touchdown was cancelled due to a roughing penalty against Stampeders kicker Cody Grace. Thomas Erlington was assessed the penalty, according to the command centre, for hitting Grace’s supporting leg.
A harsh decision when you look closely at the sequence.
“It’s disappointing. In the heat of the moment, they explained the call to me and I thought, ‘Okay, maybe I touched the kicker’s lead leg.’ But after the game, you look at the replays and there’s an angle that clearly shows there was nothing I did that could have affected his lead leg,” Erlington said Tuesday.
“Also, it was a touchdown so the command center reviews all the angles and it leads to this conclusion, I find it a bit unfortunate,” politely mentioned the man who would not refuse relevant explanations from the CFL.
Byron Archambault, the special units coordinator, had difficulty accepting the verdict, especially when he thought of his protégé.
“It’s a shame for a player like Sean who did exactly what he was supposed to do,” Archambault said. “It’s tough because it felt like a really nice play on his part. He applied the techniques you learn from day one to block a punt. Sean executed it perfectly.”
Adding to the frustration, the strategy deployed by Thomas Erlington had been scripted by the coaches.
“It’s a play that we had identified, we wanted to exploit a weakness that we had spotted. There was a space, it was planned, prepared and practiced. It’s a shame with all the time invested,” revealed Archambault.
Since 2019, the CFL has changed its rules to better protect kickers. Previously, players sometimes tended to mess up by hitting the kicker’s legs after kicking the blocked ball. Now, kickers must take advantage of a “landing zone.” Except that if Thomas Erlington’s well-executed play constitutes a penalty, how will it be possible to block a kick?
“If you have any further explanations, let me know,” Archambault responded.
“The rule says that when you touch the ball, it’s correct. Yes, for the support leg, the kicker must be able to land on his foot. The thing is, Sean didn’t touch his support leg. That’s why it’s a little frustrating,” explained the dedicated special teams coordinator.
More litters on the horizon for Thomas Erlington
We also wanted to talk to Thomas Erlington because he would have been a prime candidate to get a few more carries. After all, Thomas Erlington has averaged 7.9 yards per carry since the start of the season. The problem is, he has only touched the ball seven times in 2024, a timid backup to Walter Fletcher, the Birds’ number one running back.
Moreover, comments from the Alouettes coaches confirmed that we were not in the field. In fact, the game plan developed for the Stampeders included plays for this ball carrier.
“We talked about it recently and the coaches want to get me more involved. Coach Maas explained to me that he had in mind to give me some running plays, but that it became more difficult to distribute the ball because we were limited to 46 offensive plays. But it was in the plan,” commented Thomas Erlington, Tuesday, after practice.
On that note, offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo told us that this was the game with the lowest total of offensive plays for the Alouettes this season and the lowest time of possession (22:27 against 37:33 for Calgary).
“When a scenario like this happens, sometimes you start to focus on the players already involved in the action. We’ll see what happens next, but we’ll do our best to get him the ball,” Calvillo admitted.
Moreover, communication remains a priority for the Alouettes.
“We constantly tell our players that we have a multitude of dynamic plays that we draw up every week, but we have to stay on the field to be able to execute them,” Calvillo said.
Jason Maas remains the one with the final say in selecting offensive plays in the heat of the moment.
So we had to approach the subject with him and we did so without questioning his decisions while the Alouettes sit at the top of the CFL with a 10-2-1 record. The goal was mainly to have his vision of this limited use of Thomas Erlington.
“That’s true, but how many times did Walter (Fletcher) get to run with the ball?” Maas first asked and the answer is seven runs.
“Every week, we develop a game plan involving different players. Sometimes, plays are chosen and sometimes not. Will we make a greater effort to involve all the carriers? I would like to see that. But, if you look at the receivers, Cole Spieker was only targeted once. It’s legitimate to ask yourself that question, but above all, we’re trying to win games,” concluded the coach.
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