QB Carter calls getting cut by Alouettes 'a joke'
Blue Bombers recruit two import kickers
Herb Zurkowsky, Montreal Gazette; CanWest News Service; with files from The Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, May 25, 2006
ST. JEAN, Que. - Less than a week into training camp, quarterback Quincy Carter is out of the Montreal Alouettes' picture. And Carter, who played in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Jets, wonders whether he was ever in it.
"This is a joke ... an insult," Carter said Wednesday afternoon, hours after the Canadian Football League team announced his release. "I was throwing all over the field, from either hashmark, with ease. And we were practising in (an indoor facility), so I couldn't throw as deep as I wanted."
Carter signed with the Alouettes in early April and was attempting to make a comeback after a year away from the game. He had been released by the Cowboys shortly after the start of camp in 2004 after failing a drug test, only to subsequently sign with the Jets. He claimed in an interview last week to being drug-free for close to two years.
Training camp lasts only three weeks, consisting of two exhibition games, so the coaching staff relies heavily on practice performance. Quarterbacks in particular are charted extensively on their passes and reads to see if they understand the concepts of the Als' offence.
Head coach Don Matthews said Carter's release was performance related. "Someone had to go. He was the obvious choice. He had the lowest grades."
Carter, predictably, challenged that assessment. He also claimed he had several conversations behind closed doors with general manager Jim Popp, during which he was told he'd back up starter Anthony Calvillo.
The GM denied Carter's statement.
"All players have to earn their spot," Popp said. "I've never promised players anything. That's not my style. Other than that, I'm not going to get into a he-said, she-said debate. This was strictly performance related."
Carter's release leaves the Als with four quarterbacks -- Calvillo, Nealon Greene, Marcus Brady and CFL rookie Scott McBrien. Greene played under Matthews at Toronto and Edmonton.
At Winnipeg, the Blue Bombers signed import kickers Brian Claybourn (Western Kentucky) and Kirk Yliniemi (Oregon State), filling a void created when Duncan O'Mahony didn't show up at training camp over the weekend.
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