There’s big drama with a Vancouver pro sports team and it’s not the Canucks

Yes, this is front-page headline news, even here at CanucksArmy.

The Vancouver Canucks aren’t currently the pro sports team in Vancouver with the most drama surrounding them.

No, right now, that title unequivocally has to go to the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League.

This drama comes to us courtesy of Surrey-grown defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo, who spent last season with the Denver Broncos of the NFL. Here’s the story, and first, the backstory.

During CFL free agency, the Lions signed Shawn Lemon, an older, but fairly legendary CFL defensive lineman. Come training camp time, it seemed Lemon wasn’t doing quite as well as management may have expected, plus the opportunity to sign Kongbo came up. The Lions subsequently cut Shawn Lemon and signed Kongbo at the same time.

A week or so later on Monday, June 5th, Kongbo was traded because he apparently “isn’t a fit in the room”, according to TSN’s Farhan Lalji, who is as tapped in as anyone when it comes to the CFL and the Lions.

Kongbo then responded to Lalji’s tweet, claiming that some of the Lions’ star players didn’t show up to practice and weren’t wanting to work out.

Then wide receiver Keon Hatcher, a current core piece of the Lions, responded to Kongbo, appearing to suggest that Kongbo is just jealous because he won’t get the reps he wants at D Line.

Hatcher didn’t say this part, but the reason Kongbo wouldn’t get those reps is likely because Lions D-line coach John Bowman typically likes to run the defensive line by regularly rotating players to keep them constantly fresh.

Kongbo, who was born in Zaire but grew up in Surrey, appeared in three games for the Denver Broncos last season on the heels of back-to-back Grey Cup titles with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Long time Lions wide receiver Bryan Burnham, now retired, chimed in as well, simply saying “Bring back [lemon emoji],” expressing his desire for the Lions to bring back veteran Shawn Lemon.

The Lions made a statement last season under Amar Doman’s ownership and with Nathan Rourke at quarterback. With Rourke joining Jacksonville of the NFL, the Lions have loaded back up at the QB position and will look to Vernon Adams Jr. to lead them to a Grey Cup title following one of their best seasons in recent history last year.