Riders not 'bunch of gangsters,' GM says

Last Updated Nov. 3, 2005 10:57 AM CST CBC News

Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Roy Shivers has waded into the Trevis Smith controversy, expressing concerns his team is getting a bad rap from the news media.
Saskatchewan Roughriders GM Roy Shivers talks with reporters Wednesday"

Saskatchewan Roughriders GM Roy Shivers talks with reporters WednesdayOn Wednesday, Smith, a 29-year-old linebacker with the Regina-based CFL team, appeared in a B.C. provincial court charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a B.C. woman.

The RCMP has revealed that Smith is HIV-positive. They allege Smith knowingly exposed the woman to the virus and did not tell her about his condition. Smith lawyer Paul Harasen said his client will plead not guilty. He was released Wednesday on $10,000 bail.

Commenting for the first time on the case Wednesday, Shivers told reporters he always warns players about their lifestyle choices but he can't watch them around the clock.

"I don't know if in your job if your boss follows you home at night and tries to find out who you're sleeping with or something like that – that's not our job," he said.

Shivers also expressed concerns at the way members of his team have been portrayed in the media. In recent years, there are been several team members appearing in court on assault charges and, in one case, a marijuana possession charge.

"It's been portrayed in the public and in the newspapers and in the media that we got a bunch of gangsters running around here and that's far, far from the truth," he said. "We don't have any crackhead quarterbacks around here. We don't have any drug dealers around here."

Shivers said when he found out last year that Smith had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, he told him to use protection.

For privacy reasons, the team couldn't reveal Smith's condition to his teammates, he said.
Shivers said he cares about this community and hopes there are no more HIV scares close to home.

"The only thing, you know, that you can do now is that hopefully this is not an epidemic … because somebody had to give it to him."

Smith is no longer on the Riders active roster, but if he's found innocent, he'll be welcomed back to the team, Shivers said.