Dirtiest play I can recall seeing. The play is over. Jimenez is running behind Johnson and to the side. When Johnson is looking away, Jimenez does a very quick, sneaky dive down and roll over at Johnson's left leg. Fortunately the leg was not planted, otherwise it would have been shattered. A 6'7" 320 pound rollup of the leg would guarantee that.VANCOUVER - Jason Jimenez spent the aftermath of Saturday's 35-31 win over the B.C. Lions dumping on his former head coach, offensive coordinator and the B.C. organization. But his personal grievances didn't measure up to the level of outrage felt by former teammates against him -- after Jimenez submarined defensive end Brent Johnson in the first quarter of the CFL game at Empire Field.
"I thought it was dirty. I thought it was uncalled-for," said Lions centre Angus Reid, who played four seasons with Jimenez in B.C. before the latter's release. "It wasn't related to the play. And I, personally, thought it was a blatantly dirty hit."
I can't buy it. It looked like some primitive instinct kicked in, perhaps fueled by dislike of the team that let him go.Jimenez's explanation: "I was trying to cut him off because he was chasing the ball. [Chris] Bauman caught it. I guess I hit him [Johnson] after the whistle. It was an unnecessary roughness penalty, but I wasn't trying to . . . You can't hear [bleep] in this stadium."
I don't think anyone would say Jimenez is a statesman for the game."For 161 games, you usually play against people who have a general respect for the other players, the league and the game itself," he said. "And for the guys who came before, and the guys who come after, you're setting a standard and a precedent. To have a blatant disregard for that . . . it's shameful."
I did not want to think Jimenez did that on purpose to Gargiulo. At some point I think you have to look at the actions to determine the intent. This time with Johnson makes twice Jimenez made that type of hit on a vulnerable player.For CFL fans and media who may have given Jimenez the benefit of the doubt after he injured Calgary Stampeder defensive lineman Anthony Gargiulo three years ago, it was a particularly distressing incident. Gargiulo's promising career was undone after an illegal block by Jimenez in a game at BC Place on Nov. 3, 2007 -- (the last time that the Lions, who play in Calgary Saturday night, have defeated the Stampeders). Gargiulo's leg was shattered. Although he attempted a comeback the following year, Gargiulo, then 23, was never the same player again and was forced to retire.
But after Murphy left through free agency, Jimenez's influence lessened to an extent that the Lions released him in January. "We parted ways because we couldn't reach him and he wasn't buying into us," Buono said Sunday. "It was time to move on." In a less guarded moment, Buono snapped, "he [Jimenez] was in the quarterback's lap the whole year [2009]."
Jimenez, however, contends he was made into a "scapegoat" for the Lions' 8-10 record as a way of deflecting condemnation of the coaching staff onto the players.
"He's [Buono] a good spin doctor," Jimenez says. "He''ll say, 'Screw that guy, he's garbage.' He's got to make himself look good for the decisions he makes. When Wally released me, he told me, point blank, he didn't have an answer to who was going to replace me. I scratched my head with that one.
"sub-par offensive schemes we had" Well there has been much commentary by some fans about that on this site too.They said I was always calling out the coaches for the sub-par offensive schemes we had. But I felt I had the latitude to voice my opinion at times I needed to do that. Dorazio [offensive line coach Dan] took offence to that. He'd slam his pen down. For four years, we had a very stable offensive line. But look at them now. I find that the lack of preparation and due diligence on the Lions [coaches] part, has come back to bite 'em in the ass."
IMO Jimenez is a very capable O Lineman. It is s shame how he does those rollups on the back or side of a vulnerable player's leg.