Courtesy of TSN

CFL’s Commissioner’s Office announced today that it has fined Saskatchewan Roughriders General Manager and VP of Football Operations Eric Tillman $1,000 for publicly making comments disparaging to the B.C. Lions Football Club.

Tillman critized Wally Buono following the Lions’ 37-34 win over the Roughriders last Saturday.

Lions offensive linemen Sherko Haji-Rasouli ripped the helmet off of Riders’ Scott Schultz and wailed on the Saskatchewan defender, while teammate Rob Murphy pinned Riders defensive end John Chick to the turf. Both incidents happened as Lions quarterback Jarious Jackson was down after recovering his own fumble. Haji-Rasouli was suspended by the CFL for one game.

Tillman was quick to point the finger at Buono, saying he is out of line and he is one of the reasons why the Lions are so dirty.

“I think it’s similar between laughable and unfortunate,” he told CKNW Radio in Vancouver. “To be blunt, it does speak to the real problem - and that’s lack of accountability at the highest level of that organization.”

When an offensive lineman continues to cross the line of acceptable standards - which they have done over and over and over again in the past couple of years - it’s really pretty simple. Either the head coach encourages this type of excessive violence, or he condones it.”

Tillman released this statement in response to his league imposed fine.

“Yesterday, the league validated our complaints at every level,” stated Tillman. “Today, they felt it was appropriate to fine the messenger. We accept both decisions made by the Commissioner and believe each speaks for itself.”