Canadian Football League announced Toronto Argonauts Quarterback Chad Kelly has been suspended for at least nine games for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy.
Kelly, who was “Mr. Irrelevant” 2017 nfl draft Following his college career at Clemson and Ole Miss, he was accused of sexual harassment by a female former Argonauts assistant strength coach in February. She is also suing the Argonauts for wrongful dismissal.
An independent third-party investigative team investigated the allegations, and the CFL saw what it needed from that investigation to suspend Kelly.
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Chad Kelly #12 of the Toronto Argonauts throws a pass against the Montreal Alouettes during the first half of the CFL Eastern Final at BMO Field on November 11, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. (John E. Sokolowski/Getty Images)
“Players are ambassadors of our great game,” cfl commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement Tuesday. “He is expected to be a leader in the locker room and a role model in the community. It was important that we did our due diligence to properly review this matter from all perspectives. A thorough investigation found that Mr. Kelly clearly “Violated the CFL’s Gender-Based Violence Policy.”
“Mr. Kelly’s suspension is a direct result of his behavior.”
The league also noted that Kelly’s return to the field would be contingent on a confidential assessment by an independent expert as well as attending mandatory counseling sessions that would be conducted by a gender-based violence specialist.
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Kelly will be reevaluated after nine games before the league announces whether he can return.
“The focus is on his need for self-reflection and understanding of his actions, in addition to mandatory counseling,” Ambrosie said in a statement. “He must take full advantage of this opportunity for personal improvement in order to return to the CFL.”
Kelly is the most outstanding player in the CFL, a league in which he has been a quarterback since 2022.
The woman suing Kelly and the Argonauts was employed by the organization from 2018 to January 2024. According to her lawsuit, she claims Kelly made several romantic advances on her.
Chad Kelly #12 of the Toronto Argonauts throws the football during warm-ups before the game against the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL Eastern Finals at BMO Field on November 11, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. (John E. Sokolowski/Getty Images)
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the lawsuit states that Kelly, during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, “repeatedly tried to initiate a romantic connection by asking (her) out on multiple occasions.”
After refusing, Kelly reportedly persisted and things escalated in November 2023. The former coach claimed that Kelly “publicly accused him of being involved in a romantic relationship with another member of the team.” Kelly was reportedly “yelling, cursing and waving his hands at (him)” when the coach privately addressed the quarterback about the claims.
Things eventually escalated to Argonauts assistant GM John Murphy after the breakfast incident, where Kelly reportedly shouted derogatory words at the room and said he couldn’t wait until he was fired. Chief athletic physician Usama Mujtaba was also among the staff who had breakfast with the women’s coach at that time.
Murphy reportedly told the women’s coach that she “shouldn’t have talked to (Kelly) and that she has now ‘opened a can of worms that didn’t need to be opened.'”
Kelly, nephew of hall of fame Jim Kelly has suffered from character problems off the field since his high school days. This is considered one of the reasons why his NFL Draft stock dropped so much that he went virtually unused until the Denver Broncos took him with the last pick.
Chad Kelly #12 of the Toronto Argonauts on the sideline before the game between the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium on October 21, 2023 in Regina, Canada. (Brent Just/Getty Images)
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Kelly is the CFL’s highest-paid player following his 2023 campaign, where he threw for 4,100 yards and 23 touchdowns in 18 games (16 starts).
Kelly, 30, has also been suspended for the league’s preseason games.
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