If Bills running back Marshawn Lynch ultimately is convicted of (or pleads guilty to) leaving the scene of an accident, he might not be able to join his teammates for any of the games that the team plays in Canada.
In theory.
Canada has a pet peeve about letting folks into the country who have been in trouble with the law elsewhere. That dynamic has become more pronounced lately.
“The bottom line is, when someone has criminal convictions in the [United States], we look to see how that conviction would apply to our laws in Canada,” Madona Mokbel, a spokeswoman for Citizenship & Immigration Canada, told the Buffalo News. “There are guidelines, but we decide these issues on a case by case basis.”
In this case, as the Bills are in what many believe to be the early stages of what could be an extensive presence in Canada, Lynch surely would be allowed to play football once or twice a year in Toronto.
The only potential glitch in this regard is the local belief held by some powerful people that permitting NFL games to be played in Toronto will kill the CFL. If those folks have more juice in the immigration office than do those who want to see the Bills become a semi-permanent fixture in Canada, perhaps Lynch and any other players with criminal backgrounds will have to stay home when the time comes to travel to Toronto.
Meanwhile, Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark thinks that Lynch could be responsible for re-setting to “00″ our “Days Without An Arrest” meter.
“I would not be at all surprised if he is charged early next week with a misdemeanor count of leaving the scene of an injury accident,” Clark said.
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June 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
You are absolutely correct that Lynch could be prevented from playing in Toronto. After everything that went into setting up this deal, Ralph Wilson must not be very pleased with Lynch, both for embarassing the team and also for this likely ban. Since the Bills have reasonable depth at RB, it is possible that they could decide to trade Lynch (to the Cowboys or the Patriots ?). Perhaps they could pick up a 3rd or 4th round pick for him.
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June 8th, 2008 at 10:44 am
In the real world, people whose criminal history prevents them from performing their job usually become unemployeed.
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June 8th, 2008 at 10:47 am
It will be interesting to see if he’s charged, pleads guilty and then gets sued by the victim.
Crossing the border would be the least of his worries.
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June 8th, 2008 at 10:57 am
bobinpr,
Are you crazy? You think the Bills are going to get rid of Lynch after this? And if so, only for a 3rd or 4th round pick? Come on.
They won’t be moving Lynch, and even if they were, they could get a better return for a 22-year-old RB after a tremendous rookie season. He’s had no problems up until this, so it’s not like we’re dealing with a Pac Man Jones or Chris Henry here.
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:01 am
If Lynch is not suspended or in jail over this, he will play in the Bills games in Canada, bet on it. It must be the off season.
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:02 am
bobinpr, the Bills are going to trade the RB they took in the first round last year? For a fourth round pick? To the Cowboys, who already have Marion Barber AND just took a Felix Jones in the first round? Or the Patriots, a division rival? C’mon.
There’s no way Lynch wouldn’t be allowed to cross the border anyway. The CFL doesn’t have any kind of political sway here in Canada. Most people east of Manitoba couldn’t care less about its struggles or its continued existence.
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:10 am
There is no way that Canada will not allow Lynch to play … someone is trying to give this story more legs than it really deserves. Sure it is a noteworthy story because we have another player exhibiting less than ideal choices. Either 1) He didn’t realize he hit her because he was under the influence or 2) He thought he could get away with it. Either one is a big mistake. And then to be uncooperative instead of owning up to it just compounds the problem.
We’re talking about a misdemeanor infraction here that could have been handled a lot differently by Lynch and could have been dealt with quickly and with nearly zero press. Instead, he gets this ….
But as far as not playing in Canada goes. Does anyone REALLY believe that Toronot (Canadian) officials who are trying to get the Bills, or at least multiple games per year, are going to be begging Buffalo to play games in their city with the little exception that their new star RB won’t be able to play?
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Marshawn Lynch was a guy I rooted for. He had a pretty good, unheralded rookie season. Nothing glamorous, but he was playing with a rookie QB for a good part of the season as well.
It always disappoints me most when its a guy I like. The way I felt when I found out about the whole ordeal with Lynch’s hit and run made me want to sweep it under the rug. I wonder how Ralph Wilson feels, if he’s awake yet.
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:14 am
“Since the Bills have reasonable depth at RB, it is possible that they could decide to trade Lynch (to the Cowboys or the Patriots ?). Perhaps they could pick up a 3rd or 4th round pick for him.”
I don’t know about the Patriots, but the Cowboys wouldn’t trade a 3rd or 4th round pick for a guy that would be a third stringer on their roster.
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Your right on JohnnyH , i know i would lose mine ..
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Candada doesn’t allow criminals into their country anymore? I guess future draft dodgers are going to have to find a new country to flee to!
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:30 am
JohnnyH,
This is the real world and many people with a criminal history work. I like the theory — anyone who has ever been “charged” with a criminal misdemeanor cannot be employed. I guess there is a reason JohnnyH is not king.
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Bob–get real. As Florio noted in his original post, this is not likely to prevent Lynch from playing in Toronto and if it somehow did after the year he had last year there’s no way the Bills would trade him for a 3rd Rd pick and especially not to the Pats or ‘Boys. Most years his stats would get him offensive rookie of the year, Adrian Peterson aside. We’ll have to see how this all plays out fact-wise (seems like an awful lot of people want to convict before hearing any evidence here)–if he drove off knowing he’d hit someone, then he deserves some form of punishment, but anything worse than what say Jared Allen got for 2 DWIs in a two-month period (4 games reduced to 2) would be a crock. We’ll see how this plays out. I’ll be curious to see how Goodell handles something like this (at worst basically a scared and stupid reaction to an accident) versus something like Nick Kaczur’s case (basically intentionally buying illegal drugs from a drug dealer in quantities (hundreds of pills a week apparently) that makes one wonder if there was more going on that personal use). One more chance for the commish to favor the Patsies, but we’ll see…..
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June 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Well, if Canada does enforce that, the Cowboys and Bengals will never go North of the Border….
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June 8th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
If those folks have more juice in the immigration office than do those who want to see the Bills become a semi-permanent fixture in Canada, perhaps Lynch and any other players with criminal backgrounds will have to stay home when the time comes to travel to Toronto.
…lets go fishing them red herring are biting eh?
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June 8th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I guess some of these guys (Lynch, Benson, Stevens, Jones…) assume that when they are handed a large signing bonus it excuses them from the responsibility of having to earn it. Then they assume they have a “get out of jail free” card for any violations they may incur.
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June 8th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
bobinpr says:
June 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
You are absolutely correct that Lynch could be prevented from playing in Toronto. After everything that went into setting up this deal, Ralph Wilson must not be very pleased with Lynch, both for embarassing the team and also for this likely ban. Since the Bills have reasonable depth at RB, it is possible that they could decide to trade Lynch (to the Cowboys or the Patriots ?). Perhaps they could pick up a 3rd or 4th round pick for him.
Why would the Cowboys want/need Marshawn Lynch?
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June 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Lynch will have absolutely NO trouble getting across the border. It all comes down to money and the process reflects that. Anyone denied access because of past legal trouble can buy a pass for around $300. This pass can only be purchased once per two (or five? I don’t quite remember)years, but an unlimited multi-pass is available at a higher price. Not so much higher, though, that Lynch (or the Bills) would even think twice about it.
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June 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
bobinpr - They won’t trade Lynch for a second day pick moron. They won’t trade him at all.
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June 8th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Lame. Canada is talking about immigration. Not some guy who’s going to play a few games there…
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June 8th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
“Canada is talking about immigration. Not some guy who’s going to play a few games there…”
You’re wrong. This regulation has been in place for a long time and selectively enforced, usually against drivers with a DUI conviction trying to drive a vehicle across the border. A few years ago when medical marijuana was legalized in Canada the Bush administration pressured them heavily not to legalize, and tightened up border security with Canada searching a lot more vehicles and people. The Canadians have simply responded to that and are applying their own laws more stringently.
In this case since Lynch won’t be driving a vehicle himself and coming with an NFL team they will probably let him in. I had thought this was only for felony convictions though and violent criminals, not misdemeanors. Maybe one of our friends north of the border could clarify this.
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June 8th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
The NFL & Goodell want to make the league global. Criminals and felons are not allowed to travel into many other countries.
Suddenly I understand the new crack-down on turdish behavior.
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