Toronto Argonauts' Chad Kelly with his award for Most Outstanding Player at the 2023 Canadian Football League (CFL) Awards in Niagara Falls, Ont. Thursday, November 16, 2023. Suspended quarterback Chad Kelly met with CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tara Walton
TORONTO – Suspended quarterback Chad Kelly met with CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie on Friday.
Two league sources confirmed the meeting, which came after Kelly missed a ninth regular-season game with the Toronto Argonauts as per the suspension he received from the CFL before the start of the ’24 campaign. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as the CFL didn’t publicly announce that Ambrosie was meeting with Kelly.
According to TSN, there was no resolution reached Friday between Kelly and Ambrosie on Kelly’s possible reinstatement.
On May 7, the CFL suspended Kelly for both of Toronto’s exhibition games and at least its first nine regular-season contests for violating its gender-based violence policy. The decision followed an independent investigation into a lawsuit filed against Kelly and the Argos by a former strength-and-conditioning coach.
The lawsuit was settled in June through mediation.
Toronto’s 39-25 home win over Calgary last Friday night was its ninth regular-season game. The Argos (5-4) are currently on a bye week and return to action Aug. 22 hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Sophomore Cameron Dukes and veteran Nick Arbuckle have handled quarterback duties thus far for Toronto.
Under terms of the CFL’s suspension, Kelly had to undergo confidential assessments by an independent expert and attend mandatory counselling sessions conducted by a gender-based violence expert. Both the counselling sessions and assessments had to be satisfactorily completed before the CFL would consider Kelly’s reinstatement and the league did reserve the right to modify his discipline.
Last weekend, the league announced it had received Kelly’s confidential psychological assessment and would complete an examination of the results with the help of experts before rendering a decision on Kelly’s status.
Kelly, 30, was the CFL’s outstanding player last season after leading Toronto to a league-best and franchise-record 16-2 record. But the Argos’ season ended with a 38-17 home loss to eventual Grey Cup-champion Montreal in the East Division final.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2024.
