Edmonton Eskimos release Christion Jones after homophobic tweet

Christion Jones, a wide receiver for the Edmonton Eskimos has been let go after posting homophobic tweets about the LGBTQ2S+ community. Bailey Nitti has more on that story.

By Sportsnet

The Edmonton Eskimos have condemned the language used by Christion Jones in a homophobic tweet this weekend and released the kick returner/receiver, the team announced Sunday.

“We stand by the LGBTQ+ community and firmly condemn the language used by Christion Jones. There is no place for such commentary on our team,” the team said in a statement on Twitter.

In a since-deleted tweet, the 27-year-old from Adamsville, Ala., wrote that same-sex unions are unnatural.

On Sunday, Jones apologized for his comments, saying “my words were deeply hurtful, painful and served zero purpose.”

The CFL also released a statement about the incident on Sunday, saying “there is no place in our league for commentary that disparages people on the basis of their religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.”

“We in the CFL hold high the Diversity Is Strength banner. Our league makes no claim on perfection but it does strive to be inclusive, to accept and indeed celebrate our differences, and to respect and honour human rights,” said the statement.

“There is no place in our league for commentary that disparages people on the basis of their religion, race, gender or sexual orientation. As Pride Month continues, we stand with the LGBTQ+ community. We all need to say no to hate and yes to love.”

Jones was traded to Edmonton midway through the 2019 season after spending his entire four-year CFL career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Shortly after being acquired however, he suffered a season-ending injury.

The 27-year-old from Alabama was primarily in charge of returning kicks last season. In 13 games split between the two organizations in 2019, he has accumulated 43 receiving yards on seven catches to go along with 1,480 return yards over 105 total attempts.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report

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