An “open tryout” earlier this spring for the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Elks has resulted in complaints against the long-time CFL franchise after Elks’ staff members asked participants to help set up the field, time 40-yard dashes and other elements in the bizarre event at Pasadena City College, numerous sources told FootballScoop.
Sources have shared with FootballScoop a complaint lodged against the Elks from a third party, as well as a timeline of events, after former University of Texas Longhorns standout-punter Daniel Trejo attended Edmonton’s late-April tryout in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena. The Canadian Football League Players Association (CFLPA) has confirmed receipt of the complaint.
Trejo, who earlier this year had participated in the Texas Longhorns's annual NFL Pro Day, spoke to FootballScoop about his experience.
“I was like, ‘Wait, what is going on?’ I was just there to compete and be fresh and show what I got,” Trejo said. “And whenever they told me that, I wasn’t happy with it, but since I knew the assistant general manager (Geroy Simon), when I got to the registration and was talking to Chris Jones (Edmonton’s head coach, GM), I knew him through my personal kicking coach, I didn’t want to be that guy who says no.
"I was obviously not really pleased with it, but I thought it would be fast. It took so long to get it done and it’s not ideal to wait eight, nine hours just waiting to do anything.”
Handling the punting duties for Texas throughout the 2022 season, Trejo averaged 42 yards-per-punt on 45 tries; he dropped 13 punts inside the 20-yard line, had double-digit 50-yard or more punts and posted a career-long 61-yarder.
The Elks, the CFLPA and the CFL all have been notified of the complaint, FootballScoop was told by multiple parties with direct knowledge of the situation.
“As the individual clubs and CFL sanction the open tryouts, we have forwarded the initial communication brought to our attention to the CFL as it did not fall under our collective agreement and jurisdiction,” an CFLPA spokesperson told FootballScoop. “As an organization that represents the interests, health, and safety of athletes, we have also asked for more information on this matter and currently await a response from the CFL.”
According to an letter viewed by FootballScoop that was supplied to the CFLPA and multiple other parties on behalf of Trejo, Trejo was both forced to help set up the field for the tryout, assist in drills and then forced to wait more than seven hours on a sunny day where temperatures in the area reached the mid-70s, per online data. The heat on the field was said to be considerably warmer.
Trejo also told FootballScoop that Elks’ officials had brought “one jug of water” for everyone in attendance at the tryout.
“As noted in the attached, upon his arrival, Daniel was asked to assist the Elks’ staff with managing the timing of the 40-yard dash. I fail to understand why, as a professional football prospect, the Elks would ask, let alone rely, on Daniel for this portion of the tryout. To add insult to injury, the Elks required Daniel to sit around and wait a full SEVEN (7) hours and FIFTEEN (15) minutes before conducting the kicking portion of the tryout,” the document, reviewed by FootballScoop, read in part. “Once the workout began, Daniel was asked to perform an estimated fifteen kick-offs and fifteen field goal attempts. All before being asked to punt. (We) have never heard of anything like what the Elks required Daniel to endure and suffer.
“Setting aside the unprofessional conduct, the workload exacted from Daniel put him at a heightened risk of injury, especially considering his almost 8-hour wait. This is inexcusable and cannot be tolerated.”
The Elks issued this response to FootballScoop:
“The Edmonton Elks are unaware of a formal complaint pertaining to the player in question,” Edmonton’s statement read. “As an organization we strive to treat all players with the utmost respect.”
Told that the CFLPA had responded to FootballScoop and pressed if the Elks had additional comment, then, of any “formal or informal” complaints, Edmonton issued the amended statement:
“The Club is not aware of any complaint, formal or informal, regarding our April 29 tryout at Pasadena City College,” the franchise said, though the CFLPA already acknowledged the issue, Trejo spoke on record and a third party filed complaints via multiple entities.
Trejo was joined by two other specialists who competed at the tryout; the Elks eventually signed 36-year-old specialist Dean Faithful, who played at Colorado-Pueblo, via the Global Draft.
Trejo’s timeline of events, obtained by FootballScoop, was outlined as following when he arrived 20 minutes early for the tryout that was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. PST:
- Got there at 8:40 a.m.
- Registration happened from 9:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. During registration, I was told that as a specialist, I was supposed to help with the 40-yard dash charting so I won’t be sitting down the whole time.
- From 11:20 a.m. to 2:50 me and another specialist were standing up in the heat, very hot, sunny day and were told to make sure everyone who was running the 40-yard dash didn’t cross the white line when everyone was clearly told before they ran.
From that time, we were standing up for hours with little water because there was not enough to keep up with the heat, and feeling a bit dizzy and dehydrated before we kicked which was a bit frustrating because we felt good before that and once it was over we did not feel really well.
- From 2:50 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. they did position groups 1on1s and we were told during that time to take a break from helping and go loosen up a bit, we sat down a bit to rest and try to feel better but all 3 specialists still had some effects of the heat and at that point, we knew we did not feel the best to perform but we pushed each other to kick our best of our ability in the tryout.
-We started the specialist workout at 4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. where we kicked kicking around 15 kickoffs to start off with, then we moved up to field goals kicking around 15 or so from 40 yards out to 60 yards where I started feeling really tired mid-workout, and right after we kicked 10 punts and we thought that was a bit frustrating considering two of us were punters and there was only one kicker. We were tired at that point not being able to show the best of our ability on punts due to fatigue.
- I honestly thought this was unfair considering for us this was a great opportunity to showcase our skills and more like a job interview and we were put in a tough spot from the beginning when we felt great. I just don’t want this to happen to other specialists because we make a sacrifice to go down there for the tryout, spend money and time just to go down like that, and get told to keep working when I was ready to ball out since the beginning of the tryout.
Still chasing his football dream while also working a new job, Trejo is speaking out simply as service to others – especially recognizing money is tight for many recent graduates seeking an opportunity in their respective sports. He stressed he didn’t mind to assist in set-up for others’ drills but also felt the day kept himself and the other specialists from being full-strength. Trejo simply wants to raise awareness for others in case they encounter a similar situation.
“They ran out of water, it was hot, no food, we couldn’t leave because you didn’t know when it would start (for each position group),” Trejo told FootballScoop. “It was hot, like burning hot. It was kind of pointless, too. Honestly, I don’t think we needed to be there. We were just there.
“You know, I’ve heard some bad things, people told me about their bad experiences, but I didn’t know anything. It would take me a lot to go to another CFL tryout. I don’t think I would ever spend my money on that again. I don’t think they’re really planned out. There’s like 80 athletes on the field, only had a little jug of water for everyone. I just don’t want someone else to have to go through this.”
Advocates on behalf of Trejo, utilizing government-standard per diem and Trejo’s documented travel expenses, have requested that Trejo be reimbursed for what they view as an effectively wasted trip. FootballScoop viewed what a third-party advocate suggested Trejo should receive in reimbursement:
“The Elks’ conduct, as described herein and in the attached was negligent, irresponsible and tarnishes the reputation of the CFL,” the letter submitted to the CFLPA, among other entities, read. “At a minimum, the belief that the Edmonton Elks should reimburse Daniel Trejo for the investment he made to attend this tryout as follows: (1) $430 for air travel; (2) $100 tryout fee; and (3) $222 for meals (the Los Angeles, CA daily per diem rate of $74).”