Jamie Nye: Should A.C. Leonard get the Andrew Harris treatment?

The voting has started for the player-of-the-year awards in the CFL and there is a big question for Saskatchewan voters: Should A.C. Leonard be eligible?

In 2019, Saskatchewan fans were nearly unanimous that Andrew Harris should be ineligible from the awards following a positive drug test that led to a two-game suspension for the Bombers star.

Harris was the runaway favourite to be the league’s most outstanding player and top Canadian. The voters in Winnipeg didn’t vote for him because of his positive test.

Leonard is the favourite to be the Riders’ top defender and potentially the team’s outstanding player.

Should the same rule apply to Leonard, who also violated the league’s doping policy? The twist is Leonard was suspended not because testers found an illegal substance in his urine but because he failed or was unwilling to provide a sample.

Some will say that’s similar to an admission of guilt and may leave him off their ballot.

But we have to vote with the facts we have in front of us. And the fact is, there is no 100 per cent proof Leonard’s play this CFL season was artificially enhanced.