When I first heard the news that Janzen Jackson was charged with murder I was shocked. The former Tennessee Volunteer had a past, and like many CFL clubs, the Argos were willing to give him a chance. What is surprising is that he has been held in jail since September 2013 and the story of Jackson’s arrest was buried in the media for so long until now. The more I look into this story, the more I have realized that his release was rather odd and unusual.
Janzen was listed as the starter on the depth chart for the game on August 19, 2013 but was released on the morning of gameday. He had played in 5 games and showed a lot of promise. In his first game vs BC, he blocked a punt and was featured on Argos TV.
At the time of his release, I believe every fan in the know knew that something must have up since a starter just doesn’t get released in a span on 24 hours without incident. The Argos were silent at the time with Barker avoiding to give the real reason. The move was cited as “football reasons” and Barker commented “the first 6-8 weeks of the CFL season is devoted to finding players that fit for us and what we do…you will see players come and go rather often…we are not afraid to make moves once we feel a player is not a fit“. Barker then again refused to comment to another question related to the release of Jackson.
3 weeks after his release, if proven guilty, it seems that Jackson had murdered his mother’s boyfriend. If he hadn’t been released would have this happened at a later date or did the release cause him to act strange? This is where the story begins to get a little murky. When Jackson was released, he moved in with his mother who claimed that he was acting strange and talking to himself. She wanted him to get assessed by mental health workers and this was in August, the same month he was released. Now I have to ask the question – Were the Argos aware of his strange behaviour which prompted his release? Or did the release from Toronto cause a downward spiral? If the Argos were aware (there is no proof that they were) then did they push the issue under the rug by just outright releasing him? Did they seek help from mental health professionals? Or was it really just a football move?
I believe that is not a football decision since he was playing well. If this a “major” sport then the media would be all over this story but because its the Argos, the Toronto media probably aren’t even aware of the information surrounding his release plus the timing of the murder. I would hope if the Argos ever saw a player acting strange, that they would take the necessarily means to help that player out instead of wiping their hands clean but one thing is certain – we will never know unless someone with insider information speaks. Jim Barker never discusses moves in detail and is sometimes annoyed by the questions asked. Lately I have found the Argos be rather secretive so like I said, the fans will never know what transpired in August of 2013.
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