Riders, Garrett Marino issue apologies to Jeremiah Masoli following July 8 game against Ottawa

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and defensive lineman Garrett Marino have issued apologies to Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and the team, following their July 8 game that saw Masoli injured by a hit from Marino.

Marino was handed a four-game suspension, the longest for in-game actions in Canadian Football League (CFL) history, for two separate plays during the game, including a hit on Masoli that put him out of action for 10-12 weeks, as well as for a comment made by Marino during the game.

“The comments and actions of Garrett Marino on July 8th do not represent who we are as an organization or the work we do in the Saskatchewan community,” the Riders said on Twitter.

The team also said it will be making a donation to the Redblacks Mentorship Program in Masoli’s name.

Marino himself also issued a statement that was tweeted by the Riders.

In the statement, Marino said he will not be appealing the suspension handed to him and also stated he did not intend to injure Masoli.

He also said that during the game he made an “insensitive and culturally stereotypical remark.”

Marino said he has made attempts to contact Masoli personally and will continue to do so.

However, on Tuesday Masoli made comments of his own on social media, called out head coach Craig Dickenson for what he believed to be insensitive comments, and called his excuses poor and uninformed.

Dickenson said he was disappointed with Masoli’s comments, saying he expressed remorse right away and reached out to their staff.

"Now what I said maybe about trying to defend Garrett maybe wasn’t relevant but it certainly came from a good spot," he said. 

“I don’t know if I can even reach out to a player on another team, I think that’s tampering. But maybe in this instance I should’ve called him? I don’t have his number so I was hoping we could relay how we felt about it through their coaches and GM.”

The two teams do not play each other again this season unless they meet in the playoffs.