Moldy Peaches

This Canadian Football League season started with so much promise for Saskatchewan Roughrider fans. The team was returning almost all players - spare Hank Burris - and the coaching staff seemed to be on the same page. This, however, quickly went up in smoke. Star receiver Matt Dominguez went down with a season ending injury and Nealon Greene proved to be a major flop at quarterback.

The Riders were the picture of inconsistency throughout the campaign. Now, however, comes word that one of the team's starters is HIV positive and faces criminal charges. This is a huge deal in a city (and the province) like Regina where every Rider players business is the fans business.


Roughriders linebacker Trevis Smith was arrested and charged in Regina last Friday while he was on his way to a football practice. The RCMP also took the unusual step at that time of revealing that Smith is HIV-positive. They allege Smith knowingly exposed the woman to the virus and did not tell her about his condition. Smith was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a British Columbia woman. Information regarding the health of the woman who made the original complaint has not been released by police.

Smith has since appeared in a British Columbia court and was released on bail. He is slated to reappear in court in two weeks. Smith has been told he must not have sex without a condom, he must disclose to any sexual partner the fact that he is HIV-positive, he must have no involvement in the sex trade and cannot go to bars or nightclubs.

He must also adhere to a curfew of 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., not be alone with any female – save for his wife and family – under the age of 14 and have no contact or visits with any complainants. He must also maintain his residence in Regina and must surrender his passport if he has one.

This incident has left the Roughriders reeling as they prepare for the season finale and subsequent playoff match with the Alouettes in Montreal. Graham Barker, chairman of the Roughriders' board of directors, said Monday the team knew a year ago that police were considering charging a player who they say was HIV-positive. Barker also said that the Roughriders couldn't disclose the information to anyone due to confidentiality reasons.

This case has presented some unique armchair quarterbacking for the fans and residents of the province. There are questions about why the Riders and the CFL didn’t act on this information sooner. Did they actually owe it to anyone to disclose the information or, as Graham stated, should they have abided by the confidentiality restrictions?

The lack of action by the Riders and the CFL was probably the only course of action that could have been justified. The team and the league were not obligated to act since no charges were laid and they were legally advised not to act. General Manager Roy Shivers is right to suggest that he doesn’t baby-sit players after games and practices. His team is under an intense microscope in the fishbowl that is Regina and they operate no different than a business with 100 employees - the odd bad apple and slacker or two, but the rest are fine citizens. Shivers and the league can encourage players to use condoms, but they can’t follow them into the bedroom.

Also, the last time anyone checked it isn’t illegal to have sex with multiple partners. It is, however, illegal to have unprotected sex knowingly while infected with HIV. Smith, if guilty, should do his time for this and the team should turn the page.